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CORRESPONDENCE 



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BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY JOHN J. DYER, 

No. 35 School Street, 

18 6 2. 



ETei^ 



COERESPONDENCE. 



War Department, August 10, 1861. 

To His Excellency, the Governor of the State of Massachusetts: 

General Sherman having been charged with the preparation 
of an expedition to rendezvous on Long Island, will, on the 
part of this Department, consult with you as to the troops 
which can earliest be made available for this service. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Thomas A. Scott, Acting- Secretary of War. 



War Department, August 27, 1861. 

To His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor of Massa- 
chusetts : 
Sir, — This will be sent you by Brigadier-General Thomas W. 
Sherman, U. S. Army, who has heretofore communicated with 
you on the subject of concentrating, in a camp of instruction, a 
number of regiments of United States Volunteers. As late 
emergencies may have somewhat interfered with thi^ object, I 
have now t^ renew the request that you will put three regi- 
ments, as soon as they can be prepared for service, under the 
orders of General Sherman, who will indicate the place of 
rendezvous. 

I am, Governor, very respectfully. 

Your obedient servant, 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



4 RECRUITING OF TROOPkS. 

[Telegram.] 

Washington, August 28, 1861. 
To Governor Andrew, Boston : 

Wardwell authorized to raise a regiment.^ Cameron to-day 
orders him to report to you, obeying your instructions. Tlopy 
of orders sent you. Secretary promises no more such irregu- 
larities. This regiment in addition to five. 

C. H. Dalton. 



War Department, August 28, 1861. 

To His Excellency Governor Andrew, of Massachusetts, Boston, 

Mass : 
Sir, — I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy of the 
Department's letter of this date to Colonel David K. Wardwell, 
of Boston. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

James Lesley, Jr., Chief Clerk, War Department, 



War Department, August 28, 1861. 

Colonel David K. Wardwell, Boston, Mass : 

Sir, — You will report to his Excellency the Governor of 
Massachusetts, from whom you will receive instructions and 
orders in reference to the regiment which this Department has 
authorized you to raise. 

By order of the Secretary of War. 

James Lesley, Jr., Chief Clerk, War Department. 



Executive DEPARTMENlf Boston, \ 
August 28, 1861. I 

To Brigadier-General Reed, Quartermaster- General of the 

Commonwealth. 
General,— ****** 

His Excellency desires you, if you find proper occasion to 
do so, to express the pleasure with which he has this day 
learned, through a telegram from Washington, that the 
Secretary of War will not sanction, for the future, any such 



CORRESPONDENCE. 5 

irregularities with respect to issuing permissions to individuals 
to raise regiments, as it has permitted itself to sanction during 
the last few weeks. 

It is not an enviable, nor is it an easy task, which the govern- 
ment of this Commonwealth is willing to assume — to take 
charge of the enlistment and equipment of all regiments 
which may be required from Massachusetts — but it is essential 
to the proper organization and comfort of our troops, and to 
the securing to their families of the legislative provisions for 
their welfare, that such troops should be enlisted and equipped 
under its direction, and therefore it is willing to assume it. 

Until it shows itself incompetent to the task, it is the most 
efficient and economical agency through which the Federal 
Government can accomplish its military preparations within 
the borders of Massachusetts for the volunteer service. 
I have the honor to be. 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

A. G. Browne, Jr., Militari/ Secretary. 

Approved, and the Quartermaster-General is requested to 
confer on the subjects above mentioned with the Military 
Secretary of the Governor, if he shall be in Washington at 
the same time. 

John A.^Andrew. 



Washington, D. C, September 6, 1861. 

To His Excellency Governor Andrew, Boston : 

Sir, — The undersigned, having heretofore reported by tele- 
graph and mail concerning other matters embraced in your 
Excellency's letter of instructions, dated August 28, respect- 
fully submit the following report of our action under the 
concluding portions of said instructions, relative to the per- 
missions issued by the Federal authorities to individuals to 
raise regiments in Massachusetts, independently of and con- 
flicting with the regular recruiting system of the Common- 
wealth.. 

On the 4th instant, at an interview with the Secretary of 
War, we repeated to him tlie substance of that portion of 
your Excellency's letter, and in reply he assured us of his 



6 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

regret that any such permissions should have been issued hereto- 
fore, and of his deteruiination that none should be issued here- 
after. He expressed his cordial concurrence with your Excel- 
lency's opinion, that the most efficient and economical agency 
through which the Federal Government can raise regiments in 
Massachusetts is through the State Government, and seemed 
fully to appreciate the confusion and conflict of authority which 
would be caused by the competition of individuals with the 
regular recruiting system of the State, and the ditHculties to 
■^hich your Excellency might be subjected, in respect to com- 
missioning officers over troops raised under such independent 
authority. In conclusion, he added that he felt under especial 
obligation to yourself, and to Massachusetts, for the energy, 
economy, and honesty with which military affairs had been 
conducted under your direction. 

On the 5th instant, at an interview with the President, we 
repeated to him the substance of that portion of your Excel- 
lency's letter, in the same manner as on the previous day to 
the Secretary of War, and in reply he stated his concurrence 
in the opinion that no more independent permissions to raise 
regiments should be granted to individuals. Without sugges- 
tion from ourselves, he spoke c^ the impossibility of relying 
upon the States to respond promptly to regular requisitions for 
troops, if tneir recruiting system should be harrassed by the 
competition of individuals engaged in recruiting under inde- 
pendent permissions ; but he said such independent permissions 
as had hitherto been issued had been extorted by the pressure 
of certain persons, who, if they had been refused, would have 
accused the government of rejecting the services of so many 
thousands of imaginary men — a pressure of the persistency of 
which, no person not subjected to it could conceive. He said 
that perhaps he had been in error in granting such independent 
permissions at all, even under this pressure, but that certainly 
it had not been intended to do any person or any State a wrong. 
In closing the conversation on this subject, the President added 
that he was very familiar with it in all its bearings at this 
moment, because it had been laid before him personally during 
the few preceding days by His Excellency Governor Morgan, of 
New York, who, he remarked, appeared to have been embar- 
rassed in the same manner as yourself, but to a greater extent ; 



CORRESPONDENCE. 7 

that ill the instance of New York, an arrangement had, there- 
fore, been made, intended to obviate all these difficulties, and 
it was to be presumed that it might be necessary to apply the 
same remedy to the other States. 

In this connection we inclose a copy of the General Order of 
the United States "War Department, No. 71, which bears date 
yesterday, showing the manner in which the subject has been 
arranged in New York, and we understand the President and 
Secretary of War to have assured us that the same principles 
of adjustment are applicable to Massachusetts, and that, if 
necessary, a similar General Order will be directed to be issued 
with regard to our own State. 

We have the honor to remain, 

Respectfully, your obedient servants, 

John H. Reed, Quartermaster- General. 

A. G. Browne, Jr., Military Secretary. 



War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, 7 
Washington, September 5, 1861. ) 

\_General Order, No. 71.] 

I. All persons having received authority to raise volunteer 
regiments, batteries, or companies, in the State of New York, 
will immediately report to His Excellency Governor Morgan, 
at Albany, the present state of their respective organizations. 
They and their commands are placed under the orders of 
Governor Morgan, who will re-organize them and prepare them 
for service in tiie manner he may judge most advantageous for 
the interests of the General Government. 
By order. 

L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. 



War Department, WasAngton, Sept. 5, 1861. 

Hon. John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts : 

Dear Sir, — In reply to your favor relative to organization of 
troops, I will say that the best method, in my opinion, is for 
you to proceed with organization of regiments as authorized, 
the expense of which will be paid, from time to time, by requi- 



8 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

sitions from you, accompanied with proper certificates and 
original bills. 

We desire your active co-operation in the organization of an 
army sufficiently powerful to crusli the Southern rebellion and 
forever set at rest the question of secession. 

Allow me to tender the thanks of this Department for the 
services you have rendered the country by promptly supplying 
all demands made for forces. Very respectfully, your friend, 
Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



Executive Department, Boston, Sept. 7, 1861. 
My Dear Sir, — I replied to your favor by telegraph, but have 
been too busy at work in aid of troops for your movement to 
write a letter. I have visited General Sherman about it during 
the past week. We are raising five new regiments all of which 
I mean Sherman shall have if you will gel an order from the 
War Department to send them to him. I hope we shall have 
most of them recruited this month, if not all of them. 

Yours faithfully, John A. Andrew. 

[The above was returned with the following indorsements.] _ 

Respectfully submitted to the War Department. 

A. Lincoln. 

September 10, ISGl. 

Let this be done. 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 

I send you the order you desire. 

William H. Seward. 



Head-Quarters U. S. Force, New York, Sept. 9, 1861. 
His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts, 

Boston : 
Sir, — The public interest requires that the remaining troops 
for this expedition assemble here at the very earliest day prac- 
ticable. * * * . * * * 
♦ 
I have the honor to remain your Excellency's most obedient 

servant, 

T. W. Sherman, Brigadier- General commanding. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 9 

War Department, Sept. 10, 1861. 
Major-General B. F. Butler is hereby authorized to raise, 
organize, arm, uniform, and equip a vohmteer force for the 
war in the New England States, not exceeding six (6) regi- 
ments, of the maximum standard, of such arms and in such 
proportions and in such manner as he may judge expedient ; 
and for this purpose his orders and requisitions in the Quarter- 
master, Ordnance, and other Staff Departments of the Army 
are to be obeyed and anwered, provided the cost of such recruit- 
ment, armament, and equipment does not exceed, in the 
aggregate, that of like troops now or hereafter raised, for the 
service of the United States. 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



Executive Department, Boston, Sept. 11, 1861. 
Brig.-Gen. Thomas "W. Sherman, New York : 
. General, — His Excellency, Governor Andrew, directs me to 
say that * * * * ^i^^ j^g^ regiments are going forward 
towards completion very rapidly. General Wilson has about 
900 men in camp to-day, and the other regiments are being 
recruited in such manner as to give promise of an early jfilliug 
up of their ranks ; so that there is a reasonable prospect of two 
regiments by the 20th, with three more in a good state of 
forwardness at that time. 

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 

Thomas Drew, AssH Mil. Sec'y. 



[Telegram.] 

Washington, Sept. 11, 1861. 
To Governor Andrew: 

General Butler proposes raising in New England six regi- 
ments, to be recruited and commanded by himself and to go on 
special service. 

^ I shall be glad if you, as Governor of Massachusetts, will 
answer by telegraph that you consent. 

A. Lincoln, President. 

Simon Cameron, Sec'y of War. 

2 



10 RECRUITING OF TROOPS, 

[Telegram.] 

Executive Department, Boston, Sept. 11, 1881. 
To President Lincoln, and Sec'y Cameron, Washington, D. C: 

Authorize State to raise whatever regiments you wish ad- 
ditional. We will first fulfil engagements with General Sher- 
man ordered hy Secretary of War ; then add others fast as 
possible. Will help General Butler to the utmost. 

John A. Andrew, Governor. 



[Telegram.] 

War Department, Washington, Sept. 12, 1861. 
To Governor Andrew, Boston : 

Despatch of yesterday received. Massachusetts has done so 
well in all she has promised, that she shall not be disappointed 
in any thing she desires from the General Government. 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



New York, Sept. 11, 1861. 
To His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachu- 
setts, Boston : 
Governor, — The object of my telegram of the 10th was to 
ascertain if there existed any possibility of being disappointed 
in the time when the troops would be prepared. 



* 



I have the honor to remain your most obedient servant, 

T. W. Sherman, Brig.- Gen. U. S. A. 



War Department, September 12, 1861. 

Major-General Butler is authorized to fit out and prepare 
such troops in New England as he may judge fit for the pur- 
pose, to make an expedition along the eastern shore of Virginia 
via the railroad from Wilmington, Delaware, to Salisbury and 
thence through a portion of Maryland, Accomac, and North- 
ampton Counties of Virginia to Cape Charles. 

Transportation agents, quartermasters, and commissaries of 
subsistence will answer General Butler's requisitions for this 

purpose. 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 1 1 

War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, } 
Washington, September IG, 1861. ) 

{General Order, Ah. 78.1 

I. AH persons having received authority from the War 
Department to raise volunteer regiments, batteries, or companies 
in the loyal States, are, with their commands, hereby placed 
under the orders of the Governors of those States, to whomt hey 
will immediately report the present condition of their respective 
organizations. 

These troops will be organized, or re-organized and prepared 
for service by the Governors of their respective States, in the 
manner they may judge most advantageous to the interests of 
the Federal Government. 

By order. 

L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. 



Head-Quarters, Boston, Septembei' 23, 1861. 
IGerteral Order, No. 23.] 

Massachusetts has, at present, in active service, sixteen regi- 
ments and seven unattached companies of infantry, and one full 
battery of artillery. There are now in a forward state of organ- 
ization in the various State camps, the following new regiments 
and companies : 

22d regiment. Colonel Henry Wilson, camp, Lynnfield. 

23d " Colonel not designated, camp, Lynnfield. 

24:th " Colonel Stevenson, camp, Readville. 

25th " Colonel Upton, camp, Worcester. 

26th " Colonel Jones, camp, Lowell. 

27 th " Colonel Lee, camp, Springfield. 

1st Regiment Cavalry, Colonel not designated, camp, 
Readville. 

1st Battery Artillery, Captain Porter, camp, Cambridge. 

3d " xlrtillery. Captain Follett, camp, Lynnfield. 

4th " Artillery, Captain not designated, camp, Lowell. 

5th " Artillery, Captain not designated, camp, Lynn- 
field. 

Two more infantry regiments will go into camp in a few days, 
one of whieh of is the 28th, to be commanded by Thomas S. 



12 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

Murphy, and is to form a part of the command of Major-Gen- 
eral Butler, whose head-quarters are at Lowell, and the other 
is the 29tlt, intended for thelrish.(Shields) Brigade, the Colonel 
of which has not yet been designated. 

It is the intention of His Excellency, tlte Commander-in- 
Chief, to have these regiments and companies filled to the maxi- 
mum standard as quickly as possible, and itntil they are filled 
no recruiting' except for these reg-iments and batteries is author- 
ized or can be encouraged by the Commander-in-Chief, (with the 
single exception of recruiting to fill vacancies in Massachusetts 
regiments already in active service,) because it is of the first 
importance that these organizations should be completed 
promptly and without delay. The following is an extract from 
a General Order, issued on the 16th instant, by the Adjutant- 
General of the United States : 

" All persons having received authority from the War Depart- 
ment to raise volunteer regiments, batteries or companies in the 
loyal States, are, with their commands, hereby placed under the 
orders of the Governors of those States, to whom they will 
immediately report the present condition of their respective 
organizations. These troops will be organised or re-organized 
and prepared for service by the Governors of the respective 
States in the manner they may judge most advantageous for 
the interests of the General Government." 

In accordance with the above, the Commander-in-Chief directs 
that no new regiments or companies be formed or ordered into 
camp, nor any already in camp change their location, without 
orders from these head-quarters. 

By command of His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor 
and Commander-in-Chief. 

William Schouler, Adjutant- General. 



[Telegram.] 

War Department, Washington, D. C, > 
September 23, 1861. I 
To Governor Andrew, Boston : 

Will the three regiments for General Sherman be ready this 
week ? He must be supplied in advance of other applications 
for same service. Please reply immediately. 

Simon Cameron, Sec'y of War. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 13 

[Telegram.] 

Executive Department, Boston, 7 
September 23, 1861. | 

To Hon. Simon Cameron, Sec'y of War, Washington, D. C. : 

I request you not to issue any order detailing any particular 
Massachusetts regiments to General Butler, but to leave all 
such details to me. I have pledged certain regiments to General 
Sherman, and I am determined, if allowed, to keep my word 
to him. I can provide for Butler otherwise and sufficiently. I 
shall be obliged if I can receive an answer by telegraph stating 
that this matter of designating which shall go to Butler 
and which to Sherman is left to me according to this my 
request, unless you will now specifically designate which three 
Sherman shall have ; say Wilson's two regiments and the 
Worcester regiment. 

John A. Andrew, Governor. 



[Telegram.] 

War Department, Washington, "^ 

September 23, 18G1. ^ 

To Governor Andrew : 

Select the regiments yourself for Sherman and supply him 
first. Thos. a. Scott, 

Acting Secretary of War. 



Executive Department, Boston, ) 
September 23, 1861. ) 

To Major-General Butler, U. S. Volunteers : 

General, — His Excellency Governor Andrew, directs me to 
mention to you the speedy organization of another Irish Regi- 
ment, of which Patrick Donahoe, Esq., acts as prochein a?ni, to 
be ofiicered, as to its " field," by a list of gentlemen, Messrs. 
Murphy, Monteith, and Moore, who have been selected after 
careful consultQ,tion. Mr. Donahoe will immediately present a 
a roster of the other officers of the regiment, for examination 
and approval. His Excellency would propose to assign this 
regiment to form part of your command, and would be pleased 
to hear from you any suggestions concerning a camping ground 



14 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

on which to assemble its recruits. Camp Cameron, at North 
Cambridge, has been mentioned and favorably received, as its 
rendezvous, and wijl be designated as such unless you have de- 
sires to the contrary. Your ob't serv't, 

A. G. Browne, Jr., Military Secretary. 



Executive Department, Boston, \ 
September 23, 1861. \ 

To Brig.-General SheiIman, U. S. Army : 

General, — His Excellency Governor Andrew, directs me to 
write to you that he expects you to exert all the personal 
effort within your power to secure to your command the contin- 
gent which you expect from Massachusetts, and prevent it from 
being diverted to General Butler or any other ofhcer. His 
Excellency pledged to you his own personal efforts to secure to 
you the first regiments whose organization should be completed 
in the State, after the dispatch to Washington of the five 
regiments which were forming when you first visited Boston. 
Those five regiments are all now in the field in active service ; 
and the three which he considers belong rightfully to your 
command (being the three which will next be completed), are 
General Wilson's two regiments now encamped at Lynnfield, 
i. e. the 22d and 23d, and the 25th Regiment now encamped at 
Worcester. Other regiments can be furnished to General Butler 
in proper time, and neither he nor any other commanding 
officer ought to be allowed to divert from you these three regi- 
ments, which are yours almost by right. 

His Excellency, so far as he can influence the matter, 
proposes to assign to General Butler the regiment being raised 
by Col. Jones (the 26th), who is a townsman and personal and 
political friend of General Butler, — and also an Irish regiment 
whose organization is in progress. There can be no just pre- 
tence on which your claim to the 22d, 23d and 25th can be 
disputed, but as it is probable that it may nevertheless be drawn 
in question. His Excellency relies upon you for your own sake 
to assist him to maintain it. The 22d is already full, ajid it 
will be ready to move at the beginning of next week, — certainly 



CORRESPONDENCE. 15 

by the 1st of October. The 23d and 25th are also in an 
advanced state of progress. 

I have the honor to be, very truly, your ob't serv't, 

A. G. Browne, Jr., 
Lieut.- Col. and Military Secretary. 



Head-Quarters, Camp Chase, \ 
September 21, 1861. ) 

Lt.-Col. A. G. Browne, Jr., Military Secretary : 

Sir, — Your communication of the 23d inst. has been received, 
in which you speak of the speedy organization of another Irish 
regiment, and locating a camp therefor. 

I would simply say in reply that General Butler has gone to 
Portland, Me., and I will call his attention to the matter as 
soon as he returns, which will be to-morrow evening. 
I have the honor to be, your ob't serv't, 

P. Haggerty, 
A. A. A. General to Maj. General B. F. Butler. 



Executive Department, Boston, }_ 
September 24, 18G1. ^ 

To Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, Washing-ton, 

D.C.: 
Dear Sir, — I have been much perplexed and embarrassed 
during the last few days by contradictory orders and assurances 
issuing from your Department, respecting the disposition to be 
made of the regiments now organizing in this State. 

By a recent General Order I am given to understand that the 
entredirection of them, until they proceed into active service, 
is reposed in my^self, as the Cliief Executive of the Common- 
wealth. But notwithstanding this Order I find Major-General 
Butler and Colonel Wilson authorized by authority from your 
Department to act in some respects more or less independently 
of me. For instance, Col. Wilson has to-day received orders 
from you to report to General Butler, and form a component 
part of his proposed expedition. But almost at the same 



16 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

moment I receive from the Assistant Secretary of War a despatch 
authorizing me to make my own selection of regiments for 
General Sherman's expedition, and to send them in advance of 
all others ; and under this authorization I shall certainly desire 
to assign Col. Wilson's regiment to General Sherman, whereas 
he has previously been ordered by you to report himself 
otherwise. 

I wish to suggest as the most effectual and yet simple method 
of avoiding such difficulties and embarrassments, that you effect 
your purposes concerning regiments organizing in this State, 
throvgh and not outside of its Governor. I need not say that I 
have no other ends to subserve except the public advantage, for 
you are aware that such is the fact witliout any such assurance ; 
and most assuredly the public advantage can best be subserved, 
and your own purposes best be accomplished through my agency, 
so long as the organization of the regiments is entrusted to my 
control. For I know better than any body else can know, the 
quality of the material of which the troops organizing here are 
composed. I know their affections, their prejudices, and their 
desires ; and I have been desirous to distribute them among 
Generals Sherman, Burnside, and Butler, each of whom is of 
course desirous to secure the best of them, according to my 
own opinion of the system of distribution whicli shall most 
promote their efficiency upon the service for which they are 
designed. 

General Burnside, with most commendable modesty and taste, 
will, I doubt not from the conversation I have had with him, 
coincide with my opinions on this subject. But General Butler, 
it is evident to me, desires naturally to secure to his own 
command, with or without consultation with me, according as 
best he may, all the force he can, even to the prejudice of what 
General Sherman has a positive right to expect from Mas- 
sachusetts. 

I am faithfully and with high regard yours, 

John A. Andrew. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 17 

War Department, September 27, 1861. 

Sir, — Your letter of the 24tli instant is received. It is the 
desire of this Department that General Sherman should be first 
supplied, and that after\yards General Butler should bo furnished 
with such troops as may be required in aid of his proposed 
expedition. 

It icas t/ie intention of this Department to leave to your 
Excellency all questions concerning; the organization of troops 
in your State, and the Orders to which you refer were designed 
to he subject to the approval and control of the Executive of 
Massacliusetts. 

It tvill he my endeavor to act strictly in accordance ivith your 
suggestions. This Department reposes entire confidence in one 
who has thus far discharged with fidelity, ability, and energy, 
every duty required of him by the Federal Government. 
I am, with great respect, 

Your obedient servant, 
Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 

To His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts, 
Boston, Mass. 



New York, September 27, 1861. 
Lt.-Col. A. G. Browne, Jr., Mil. Sec'y of Mass., Boston : 

Dear Sir, — Your favor of the 23d inst. was received yesterday, 
and the matter was immediately attended to by calling the 
attention of the Honorable Secretary of War to the subject. 

Five regiments are yet waited for, 3 from Mass., 1 from 
Maine, and 1 from New Hampshire, and it is hoped that they 
vv^ill all be pressed forward at the earliest day. 

Very respectfully, your most ob't, 

T. W. Sherman, Brig.-Gen' I commanding. 



18 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

War Department, October 1, 1S61. 

To His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachu- 
setts^ Boston, Mass. : 
Sir, — Please send Colonel Stevenson's Regiment when ready 
for service, to Camp Hempstead, Long Island, with instructions 
to report to General Burnside for orders. 

Yours respectfully, 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



War Department, Adjutant-General's Office, 
Washington, October 1, 1861. 

\_General Order, No. 86.] 

I. The six New England States will temporarily constitute a 

separate military department, to be called the Department of 

New England. Head-Quarters, Boston. Major-General B. F. 

Butler, United States Volunteer Service, while engaged in 

recruiting his Division, will command. 

» «*«*♦* 

By order. 

L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. 



War Department, October 2, 1861. 

Dear Sir, — You will arrange to pay the men now enlisted, 
and those to be mustered in the Eastern States, by General B. 
F. Butler, the amount of pay that would be due them for the 
first month's pay from the date they are mustered into the 
service of the United States. This payment, in advance, is 
strongly recommended by the General in command, and the 
requisition will be met by the Secretary of the Treasury. 

Please detail a competent Paymaster for the command, and 
give him full instructions to enable him to comply promptly 
with this Order. 

Very respectfully, 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 

Col. Larned, Paymaster- General. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 19 

[Telegram.] 

War Department, WashixCtTOx, ) 
October 2, 18G1. j 

To Governor Andrew, Boston : 

Send the three regiments for General Sherman to Hempstead 
Camp on Long Island by Monday morning at the latest. Earlier 
if possible. 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



[Telegram.] 

War Department, Washington, } 
October 3, 1861. j 

To Governor Andrew, Boston: 

Send the Wilson Regiment to Washington direct. Give 
Siierman the next one as soon as possible. 

Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, > 
Boston, October 5, 1861. ]" 

To- His Excellency John A. Andrew: 

Sir, — I herewith enclose a copy of General Order No. 1, 
in which I assume command of the Department of New 
England. 

I have the honoi' to be, very respectfully, 

Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 

Benj. p. Butler, Major- General commanding . 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, | 
Boston, October 5, ISGl. ) 

\_General Order, No. 1.] 

By order of the President of tlie United States, the six 
New England States are constituted the Department of New 
England under the command of Major-General B. F. Butler, 
head-quarters at Boston. 

The Major-General commanding announces his staff- as fol- 
lows: 



20 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

Major George E. Strong, Assistant Adjutant-General, acting 
officer of ordnance and chief of staff. 

Captain Peter Haggerty and Lieutenant W. H. Wiegel, 
Aides-de-Camp. 

Gilman Kimball, Brigade Surgeon, Medical Director. 

Captain Paul R. George, Brigade Quartermaster, Assistant- 
Quartermaster. 

All ofticers in command of troops mustered in the service of 
the United States will report either in person or by letter to 
these head-quarters. 

The quarterly and monthly returns of the several United 
States officers in this department for the 30th of September not 
already forwarded, will be forwarded to these head-quarters. 
The attention of such officers is called to the regulations which 
require such communications to be made to the chief of 
staff. 

Full returns of the material in the Commissary, Quarter- 
master and Ordnance departments under the charge of United 
States officers are required forthwith. 

By command of Major-General Butler. 

Peter Haggerty, 
A. D. C. a?id Acting- Assistant Adjutant- Getter al. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, ) 
Boston, October 5, 1861. ^ 

My Dear Sir, — Being desirous of raising some men in New 
England, for special purpose, to be armed and equipped with 
reference thereto, I asked the authorization of the President of 
the United States to raise them and he gave it to me, and tele- 
graphed for your assent, as well as the governors of other 
New England States. 

Your assent was given ; acting upon that, I called upon you 
and you desired that I should wait a week, when the regiment 
of Colonel Wilson, then being recruited, would be full before I 
took any action upon that subject. To this I assented, and 
have been only looking out for my officers, for recruiting pur- 
poses, and have made no public announcement, and allowed one 



CORRESPONDENCE. 21 

who had a special corps to make advertisement which I thought, 
woukl be fully within the spirit of the understanding. 

I then shew you an Order to take regiments already raised 
and not assigned to otlier officers, for another purpose, and you 
offered to assign me Colonel Jones' Regiment. You also said 
that an Irish regiment now being raised, you would like to 
be assigned to me, to that I assented, and left for the purpose of 
oganizing recruiting in Maine and from thence to Washington. 
On my return I find that the recruiting officers have been 
making publications injurious to me and the recruiting service, 
so that it becomes necessary to know what exactly is understood 
between us. 

Two weeks have passed and now these regiments are not full, 
the allegations of men arc, that they will not serve under some 
of the officers which have been appointed. I desire therefore, 
the simple announcement by General Order, that I have author- 
ity to enlist men for a regiment, to be numbered as you please, 
also a squadron of mounted men. These troops to be a part of 
the Volunteer force of the State. These to be in addition to 
those already assigned by you. If you choose however to recall 
the Irish regiment assigned me, I shall have no objections. I 
should be glad to keep it, but I should be unjust to others if I 
did so, to the exclusion of a new regiment. That being done, 
I see no difficulty in the way of filling up all these regiments at 
once, save this one. 

A most vicious practice has arisen here, as it seems to me, of 
captains or other recruiting officers offering private bounties 
for men, of five and seven dollars. This amounts in fact to the 
sale of men by the recruiting officers to the captain, who has 
the most money, to fill up his company. The men hold off 
from enlisting for a higher bid, and so the deserving, but poor 
officer gets no men to enlist, and the whole recruitment is 
demoralized. This bounty can only be got from the officers, 
and it amounts to the British system of buying commissions in 
its worst form. I will not tolerate it where I have the authority 
so to do, and I would respectfully suggest its evil tendency 
in others. 

I trust these suggestions and this course which will allow 
those patriotic persons who have done me the honor to inform 
me of their desire to enlist in the service of the country, to 



22 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

serve under my command in preference to another, tlie oppor- 
tunity of so enlisting wliile others of different preferences will 
have an opportunity to gratify their desires, and both classes 
will thus be brought at once into the field where they are so 
much needed. At your Excellency's request, I have put this 
matter in writing to prevent possible misunderstanding. 
With sentiments of the highest respect, 

I am most truly yours, 
Benj, F. Butler, Major- General commanding. 
To His Excellency John A. Andrew, Commander-in-Chief. 

[Copy of Major-General Butler's Enlistment papers.] 

United States Volunteers Enlistment List. 

We, the undersigned, by our signatures hereto, do hereby 
severally agree to serve for a period of three years from the 
date of our enlistment, in the United States service, or during 
the war, unless sooner discharged, as volunteers in the force 
called for by the President in his proclamation of May 3d, 1861, 
in accordance with the terms of said proclamation and under 
the organization set forth in General Orders from the war 
department and from the adjutant-general's office ; and if 
ordered into camp and our number is not filled up to the mini- 
mum number of men, on or before the 20th day of October, 
we severally agree to serve in the companies to which we may 
be severally assigned. 

Enlisted men are entitled to pay, subsistence, clothing and 
quarters from the term of their enlistment. Pay, $13 per 
month. A bounty of 1100 upon being honorably discharged 
at the end of the war. 



Executive Department, Boston, | 
^ 9^, P. M., October 5, 1861. ^ 

Major-General Butler : 

My Dear Sir, — I have just received and read your note of 

to-day's date, on my return from visiting our Cavalry Camp at 

Readville ; and I beg leave to say at once, in reply to your 

remark relating to some supposed promise of mine, that I did 

not at any time say that while we were ali*eady raising so many 

regiments in Massachusetts I could consent to an embarrass- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 23 

ment of the service by additional competition for recruits. 
But, while I assured you of my willingness, so far as it lay in 
my power, to assign to you, out of regiments in progress, our 
fair proportion, or more than that, of the six regiments you 
told me you wished to raise in New England, I have constantly 
declared that I could not concur in a policy which, by crowding 
the competition of regiments, would be fatal, or very dangerous 
to successful recruiting. And I apprehend that we have been 
already, of late, overdoing the business, by attempting to raise 
one cavalry and eight infantry regiments and three battery 
corps at the same time. I am convinced that four of these 
infantry regiments should first be filled, before beginning upon 
more regiments. The length of time we have already spent in 
recruiting these bodies now in process, to which fact your note 
alludes, is £f circumstance confirmatory of this opinion. The 
22d Regiment will march on Tuesday ; the 23d, 25th and 27th 
will be filled, doubtless, by Monday week, if not disturbed by 
more competitors. And since all the regiments in New Eng- 
land are ordered to report to yourself, and there will be no 
difficulty in getting the troops needed for your own column, I 
need feel no anxiety in that respect. Please, however, send me 
a roster of company officers under whom you wish a new reg- 
iment enlisted, if you have any offering of whom you think 
favorably, and I will authorize a new regiment to begin in a 
week from Monday next, under Capt. Henry L. Abbott, (of 
Massachusetts,) of the U. S. Topographical Engineers, for 
Colonel, and Charles Everett,* late Colonel of District Columbia 
Volunteers, formerly serving in Mexico, or Major Francis Brin- 
ley, for Lieutenant-Colonel — the Major to be selected seasonably. 
I cannot authorize any earlier ffllvement, especially in view 
of your proposal to advance half a month's pay to the new reg- 
iment, to the exclusion of the other regiments now recruiting; 
nor can I consent to the organization of any regiment at any 
time upon such a plan of favoritism. If gentlemen, out of 
their own purses, choose to offer bounties to secure enlistments, 
1 know not that I can interpose to prevent it. But I do not 
approve of its being done, nor have I ever known an instance 
of the -kind. If, however, any person employed in the general 
recruiting service, or any other agent of the Commonwealth, 
has ever in one instance taken money as a consideration for 



24 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

any tiling done, or left undone, in relation to the duty or service 
touching which his employment gave him any power or func- 
tion, I will be obliged to you, or to any other person, for the 
evidence of such fact, I should regard such conduct as a 
grave offence, which should not be suffered, and which should 
not be allowed to pass without full pursuit. And since you 
suggest that recruiting officers have sold men for a price to 
regimental or company commanders, I rely on your zeal for the 
public good, and your sense of what is due to justice, both to 
the public service and to individuals, that the guilty shall be 
specified and all the means of proof made known to me, in 
order that the most speedy and vigilant measures for suppres- 
sion and rebuke may be instituted. 

Since I began this note, permit me to add, that the first 
instance of the offering of private bounty has come to my 
knowledge, requiring me, therefore, to correct a statement 
made in the earlier part of this letter. And that is the case of 
a gentleman who had the offer from yourself of a commission 
in case he would enlist a given number of men, to secure which 
he has offered five dollars per man. I regret to be obliged to 
refer to this point, because I am grieved to know that any officer 
of the United States army has begun to interfere at all with 
enlistments for the Volunteer force in Massachusetts. Poor and 
humble as may be the value of my own services and judgment, 
and little as I may have personally contributed to the success 
of our military preparations and movements, yet I have the 
great satisfaction of knowing that we have pursued a sijslem, 
carefully, watchfully, faithfully, and zealously, in which, by the 
intelligent and loyal co-oj^-ation of all officers of the State and 
of the Union, who have lira any connection with such matters 
here, we have found reason to trust. In truth, almost any 
system is better than none. We have, thanks to the energy 
and zeal of the people of the Commonwealth, enlisted, armed, 
uniformed, equipped, and forwarded with complete camp material 
and baggage trains, sixteen full infantry regiments, to say 
nothing of two artillery corps and our sharpshooters ; and the 
public, and the government, have observed their numbers, 
completeness and efficiency, with numberless expressions of 
approval and satisfaction. We are, at this very moment, doing 
half as much more, and doing it with the utmost of our ability, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 25 

and we have, thus far, escaped the confusion and uncertainty of 
mov^emcnt which have embarrassed some other States, and from 
which, by mucli effort, their Governors have only just now 
escaped. Now, with the utmost respect for the Department of 
War, and for yourself personally, and with the most loyal sen- 
timent of obedience, I mean to continue to do just what I 
have from the first persistently done ; and that is, to hold, with 
an iron hand and unswerving purpose, all the powers which, by 
the laws, pertain to me officially in my own grasp ; yielding the 
most implicit obedience in all things to those having the right 
to direct me ; but, at the same time, remembering that true 
subordination requires every officer to perform his own duties 
and fulfil his own functions himself, as well as to submit him- 
self loyally to his official superiors. And I know that I have 
most earnestly and diligently, without stopping a moment to 
count the cost, endeavored to obey every requisition of the War 
Department, and to furnish every thing it desired. Now, the 
law and the army orders place the business of raising and 
recruiting for the volunteer service, and the commissioning of 
volunteer officers, in the hands of the Governors of the States 
from which they are called and by. which they are furnished ;; 
nor is it permitted by law, to the President himself, even were 
he so disposed, to interfere in the premises, unless the Governor 
of a State on whom a call for troops is made refuses or neglects 
to perform his proper functions. And I am and have repeat- 
edly been, assured, by the Secretary of War, that his Depart- 
ment regarded with the utmost satisfaction the effi^rts made by 
Massachusetts to serve the country and support the national 
arms ; and, moreover, that he had issued no orders, and would 
issue none, tending to interfere with the State authorities. 

I shall, therefore, do ^actly by you as I have done by Gen. 
Sherman and Gen. Burnside ; that is to say, I shall use every 
exertion to furnish troops for the service you propose, in our full 
proportion. But it must be done by pursuing such methods 
and plans as we have found necessary for the general advantage 
of the service. Nor can I permit, so far as it lies with me to 
decide, any officers of the United States to raise troops, as Mas- 
sachusetts volunteers, within this Commonwealth, exccj)t for 
recruitment of existing regiments, or subject to the conditions 
indicated ; while any advice or friendly assistance will be grate- 
4 



26 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

fully received from any quarter, mucli more from a gentleman 
of your capacity to advise, and your hearty zeal in the cause we 
are both aiming to serve. 
I have the honor to be, with high respect and regard. 

Yours faithfully, 

John A. Andrew. 

[Statutes at Large, of the United States, passed at the First Session of the 37th Congress.] 

Chap. IX. An Act to authorize the Employment of Volunteers, &c. 

JBe it enacted, 8fC. : 

Sect. 4. That * * * ^\^q Governors of the States 
furnishing volunteers under this act, shall commission the field, staff and 
company officers requisite for said volunteers ; but in cases where the 
State authorities refuse or omit to furnish volunteers at the call, or on 
the proclamation of the President, and volunteers from such States offer 
their services under such call or pi'oclamation, the President shall have 
power to accept such services and to commission the proper field, staff, 
and company officers. 



[Telegram.] 

Executive Department, Boston, \ 
October 5, 1861. | 

To Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C: 
Will you pay our soldiers as fast as sworn in half month's 

pay, detailing paymaster therefor ? Do not authorize this for 

any unless for all. 

What is General Butler's power and position here ? 

John A. Andreav, Governor. 



[Telegram.] 

War Department, Washington, October 5. 
To Gov. Andrew, Boston : 
We cannot pay in advance. 

General Butler has authority to concentrate a brigade for 
special service, all of which is to be organized under the several 
Governors of the Eastern Slates. 
We gave General Butler authority with regard to advance. 
Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 27 

Executive Department, Boston, ) 
October 6, 1861. | 

Hon. Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, Washington, D. C. : 

Sir, — I am very much at loss to attacli a definite construction 
to your telegram, received last evening, in reply to my inquiry 
of you as to what is the power and the position of Major-Gen- 
eral Butler in this Commonwealth, since the recent army orders 
assigning him to the command of a new military Department 
which includes the State of Massachusetts ; and my perplexity 
on this subject is increased, by the official service upon me, at 
the same moment, of the annexed communication and Order 
from General Butler. I enclose to you the originals. 

What am I to understand by this requirement, that all offi- 
cers in command of troops mustered into United States service 
— without limitation as to time or place, shall report themselves 
to him ? 

On the 23d ultimo, I issued an Order respecting the volun- 
teer regiments which are being raised in Massachusetts under 
my direction. I inclose to you a copy of this Order and invite 
your attention to it, and also to tlie General Order of the War 
Department of the United States, of the IGth ultimo, an 
extract from which is therein quoted. 

You will perceive thereljy that in Massachusetts I am engaged 
in recruiting at this time eight regiments of infantry from the 
22d to the 29th inclusive, one regiment of cavalry, and three 
batteries of artillery — one battery having been completed and 
dispatched to Washington on Friday last. The 22d Infantry 
lIPol. Wilson's) is under orders to leave for Washington 
to-morrow. Am I to understand that its departure must be 
delayed in order that its colonel shall report to General Butler ? 
The 23d, 25th and 27th regiments are in an advanced state of 
preparation, and acting under autliority from yourself, I have 
selected them to form the contingent desired from Massachu- 
setts for General Sherman. Am I to understand now, that 
their colonels are to report to General Butler, and be liable to 
be diverted at his discretion, from the designation I have made 
concerning them ? The 24th Regiment (Col. Stevenson) I 
have, under your authority, intended for General Burnside ; 
am I to understand tliat this intention is subject to General 
Butler's permission ? 



28 RECRUITING OP TROOPS. 

When General Butler first came here with his plan for raising 
six regiments in New England, I at once assigned to him — 
subject to your approval — two (the 26th and 28th) of the eight 
regiments I then had started ; nor is there any difficulty in his 
having a third, if need be. I regret his appearance now in the 
capacity of a recixiiting officer, introducing as it does an 
element of confusion, perplexity, and conflict, into the system 
of raising and equipping troops which has thus far been steadily 
and earnestly pursued here. 

Why is power given to him thus to interfere with me and 
distract and confuse the system under which my operations are 
conducted ? I have not received from the President, nor from 
yourself any notice that my efforts to serve the country in my 
official capacity have not been efficient and satisfactory. On the 
contrary, the President and yourself have at various times 
given assurances — very gratifying in their terms — of a contrary 
description. If any thing lias occurred to produce a revolution 
of opinion on this subject in your mind, I trust it may be dis- 
closed ; but in view of your recent expressions of satisfaction 
with what has been and is being accomplished in Massachusetts, 
the present attitude of General Butler puzzles me exceedingly. 

I dread the introduction into Massachusetts of the same 
elements of confusion from whicli the executives of New York 
and Pennsylvania have just extricated themselves ; and I desire 
to arrive at a thorough understanding at once with a view to 
harmonize matters before they become so entangled as to 
annihilate the military efficiency of this Commonwealth. This 
is my apology for writing to you thus earnestly and frankly. % 

To one circumstance I beg to call your especial attention. 
General Butler, it seems, comes clothed with some authority to 
pay half a month's advance to men enlisted by himself. How 
does it happen that all the troops raised here cannot receive 
advance pay, if it is proposed thus to favor a pari? And why 
should this trust of discrimination be reposed in an officer who 
has been unfamiliar hitherto with the practical business of 
raising men in this State for the war ? We have done our utmost 
to obey and to anticipate even the wishes of the Federal govern- 
ment in the eidistment of men and in the perfection and econ- 
omy of their [)rcparation and equipment, and 1 am more troubled 



CORRESPONDENCE. 29 

by this disturbing interposition, than I have been by all the toils 
and responsibilities of the year. 

I heartily desire to avoid collision or even the slightest com- 
plaint. I am willing to sacrifice any thing merely personal to 
myself, but I cannot consent in silence to the entering of a 
wedge for I know not what distractions to follow. Even now 
I begin to hear of persons who claim to have ^ad .commissions 
promised to them by General Butler, and if he undertakes to 
raise troops here himself he will undertake to control the 
appointment of their officers, although the Governor, alone, 
can by law grant commissions unless he shall refuse to exercise 
his functions and neglect to raise troops when required. 

I beg leave, in conclusion, again to express to you my con- 
viction of the necessity of immediate action by the President 
and yourself on the subjects I have thus presented, with a view 
clearly to understand the relation which it is intended to 
establish between General Butler's authority and my own, and 
to avoid the evils which must inevitably result from the present 
attitude of affairs. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
Your obedient servant, 
John A. Andrew, Governor of MassachuseUs. 



Executive Depaktment, Boston, ^ 
October 7, 18(31. j 

To Major-General B. F, Butler : 

Sir, — Ilis Excellency Governor Andrew directs me to say, 
that the pressure upon his time which has occupied him all of 
yesterday and to-day will continue this evening and through 
to-morrow, when he will be obliged to leave town for a day 
more ; but that if you desire to communicate with him, and 
will do so in writing, directed to 71 Charles Street, this even- 
ing, he will endeavor to prepare a proper answer before morn- 
ing, and cause it to be sent to you at an early hour. 
Yours very truly, 

Thomas Drew, AssH Mil. Sec'ij. 



30 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

At Office, October 8, 1801, 10, A. M. 

General Butler received his Excellencj^'s note at this hour, 
which renders it almost impossible to prepare a written state- 
ment of the matter of communication. 

A personal interview of five minutes would, in his judgment, 
conduce to the public service, and save explanation much more 
formal in writing. 

If Governor Andrew has any reasons personal to General 
Butler for not desiring an interview (of which he is not aware) 
of course the interview is not desirable. 

[The above has no signature nor address, but is in the handwriting of General Butler.] 



Executive Department, October 8, 18G1. 

Major-General Butler,. U. S. Volunteers : 

General, — His Excellency Governor Andrew has the honor 
to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this morning, and 
directs me to reply that he has no reason whatsoever of a 
character personal to yourself for not desiring an interview ; 
that, on the contrary, he has always had strong reasons to be 
pleased in your personal society, which has been invariably 
agreeable to him. But he is at this hour, and will continue to 
be for some time, engaged at a session of the Executive Coun- 
cil, and various other engagements of an imperative character 
are pressing upon his attention. Therefore, unless the subject 
upon which an interview is desired is of such a character as to 
absolutely require immediate attention, he would prefer at this 
moment that it should be placed in writing, especially in view 
of the fact that there appears by your letter of the 5th inst. to 
be a difference of memory respecting the oral conversation 
therein referred to. 

I have the honor to be, your obedient servant, 

A. G. Browne, Jr., Lt.-Col. and Military IS,ec'y. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 31 

Head-Quarters, New England Department, \ 
Boston, October 8, 1861. • j 

To His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and Com- 

mander-in- Chief : 

Sir, — I desire to know if any rooms at the State House could 

be temporarily obtained, until the meeting of the Legislature, 

for the use of myself and staff as head-quarters. 

Knowing that some rooms were put to the use of General 

Wilson, I am emboldened to make the request. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Benj. F. Butler, Major- General commanding. 



Executive Department, October 8, 1861. 
Major-General Butler: « 

Sir, — I liave not the assignment of rooms in the State House. 
I found Col. Wilson occupying a room. It was not with my 
consent, but it was to the inconvenience of all having business 
in our wing of the building. I think it a bad precedent, and 
not to be followed ; nor, so far as I may be consulted, can I 
consent that the State House shall be used as head-quarters 
or for office-rooms by any but those officers contemplated by 
law and having rooms regularly assigned to them, such as 
heads of departments and bureaus of tlie Commonwealth. I 
am informed to-day that Col. Wilson happened almost by acci- 
dent to begin using the room he frequented ; and knowing that 
his stay here would be very brief, and his hours few each day 
while here, I did not feel willing to ask his removal. And I 
am very sorry now, to be compelled by your reference to the 
fact of his presence here, to say a word about it. 

I am, very respectfully yours, 

John A. Andrew. 



[Telegram.] 

War Department, Washington, 7 
October 8, 1861. 3 
To Governor Andrew, Boston : 

I have agreed that Wilson's Regiment should come to Wash- 
ington, and you to furnish another regiment in its place, 

Simon Cameron, Sec^y of War. 



32 EECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

Head-Quarters, Department of New England, ) 
Boston, October 12, 1861. | 

Will " His Excellency Governor Andrew," assign to General 
Butler the recruitment of a regiment of Massachusetts Volun- 
teers, and a squadron of mounted men, to be armed and 
equipped by him under the authority of the President ; the 
officers to be selected by General Butler but commissioned by 
" His Excellency," with, of course, a veto power upon what 
may be deemed an improper selection. As these officers are to 
go with General Butler upon duty, would " His Excellency " 
think it improper he should exercise tlie power of recommenda- 
tion. 

To the telegram of the President, asking consent that the 
authorization should be given to General Butler, to raise troops, 
" His Excellency " telegraphed in reply that he would " aid " 
General Butler to the_utmost. 

General Butler knows of no way in which " His Excellency " 
can aid him so effectually, as in the manner proposed. 

The selection by " His Excellency," in advance, without 
consultation, of a colonel and lieutenant-colonel, of an unformed 
regiment, not a soldier of which has been recruited by the 
State, and both these gentlemen, to whom the General at pres- 
ent knows no personal objection, being absent from tlie State 
on other duty, seems to him very objectionable. 

It is not certain that Lieut. Abliott, of the Topographical 
Engineers, will be permitted to leave his corps. Colonel 
Everett has not lived in the State for many years, and lias not 
such interest identified with the State or the men of Massa- 
chusetts whom he would command, as to render his appointment 
desirable. 

General Butler has had, and can have the aid of neither in 
his regiment, and he believes that those who do the work, other 
things being equal, should have the offices. General Butler 
would have been hap^ to have conferred with " His Excel- 
lency " upon these and other points, but " His Excellency " did 
not seem to desire it. 

General Butler has proceeded upon this thesis in his recruit- 
ment, — to say to all patriotic young men, who seemed proper 
persons, and who have desired to enter the service as officers, 
" K you have the confidence of your neighbors, so that you 



CORRESPONDENCE. 33 

can recruit a given number of men, then by giving evidence of 
your energy and capacity thus far, if you are found fit in other 
respects upon examination, I will recommend you for a com- 
mission, to command the number of men you shall raise. 

This is believed to be a course much better calculated to find 
officers, than to hunt for them by the uncertain light of petitions 
and recommendations. 

General Butler desires to make good his words to these young 
gentlemen. " His Excellency " will perceive the impossibility 
of at once furnishing a roster under such circumstances, as 
requested, for " His Excellency's " perusal. 

" His Excellency's " attention is called to the fact, that no 
reply has been received to General Butler's request, as to a 
squadron of mounted men. 

General Butler is informed, by the returns of those who have 
recruited for him, that he has already a number of men, equal 
to two regiments, in such progress that they can be organized 
in ten days, being the most prompt recruitment ever done in 
this State ; these besides the 2Gth and 28th Regiments, assigned 
to him by General Order. 

General Butler trusts that " His Excellency " will not, with- 
out the utmost necessity for it, throw any obstacles in the way 
of his recruitment, as General Butler is most anxious to get his 
Division organized, so as to start upon an expedition already 
planned, in the service of his country. 

General Butler hopes that these views will meet " His Excel- 
lency's " concurrence and co-operation. 

Most respectfully, " His Excellency's " obedient servant, 

Benjamin F. Butler. 



Executive Department, Boston, ) 
October 14th, 1861. | 



To Major-General B. F. Butler, U. S. Volunteers, conmiand- 

ing Department of New England: 

General, — I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt at this 
Department, of your letter of the 12th inst., addressed to His 



5 



84 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

Excellency Governor Andrew, which I have forwarded accord- 
ing to its direction, His Excellency being absent from the city. 
I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 

A. G. Browne, Jr., Lt.-Col. and Military Secretary. 



Will A. G. Browne, Jr., give the bearer a descriptive Roll, 
and oblige yours, 

P. Haggarty. 

A. G. Browne, Jr., Lieut.- Col. and Military Secretary., 
State House. 

[This bears no date, but was received by me on October 19th. A. G. Browne, Jr.] 



City of Lowell, Mayor's Office, } 
October 18, 1861. j" 

To His Excellency Governor Andrew : 

Dear Sir, — There appears to be a question whether the men 

enlisting into General Butler's Division are entitled to State aid 

for their families. We have paid in several cases where it 

seemed to be absolutely necessary to do so. I have written the 

Adjutant-General upon this subject, and he sends me a printed 

copy of General Order No. 23, but I notice that was issued 

Sept. 23d, and it has occurred to me that perhaps this Order 

was not designed to cover the case to which I now call your 

Excellency's attention. I wish to act understandingly in 

paying money from the City Treasury. An early reply will 

therefore oblige 

Your obedient servant, 

B. C. Sargeant, 31ayor. 

[Endorsed. — Executive Department, Boston, Oct. 21, 1861. Eecciveil this Uay and respectfully 
referred to the Attorney-General for answer. 

By order of the Governor, A. G. Beowne, Jr., Lieut. -Col. and Military Secretary.] 



Attorney-General's Office, October 23, 1801. 
To His Honor B. C. Sargeant, Mayor of Loivell : 

Sir, — His Excellency Governor Andrew, has referred to me, 
for answer, your letter of the 18th, in which you inquire whether 



CORRESPONDENCE. 35 

men enlisted in General Butler's Brigade are entitled to the 
benefits of the Act in aid of the families of volunteers. 

In my opinion all volunteers who are inhabitants of this State 
and enlist in Massachusetts regiments should receive the bene- 
fits of this statute, and it includes all regiments raised in this 
State under the authority of the Governor, the officers of which 
are by him commissioned. If General Butler's Brigade is to be 
so raised and so commissioned, then its soldiers will be mustered 
into and enlisted in the service of the United States within the 
fair meaning of the language of the first section, " as members 
of the volunteer militia of the State." I suppose this will be 
the case, and therefore that the men enlisted by him will be 
entitled to the usual aid. 

And I only state my opinion in this guarded form, because 
of the possible, but highly improbable contingency of volunteers 
being enlisted in full regiments in Massachusetts without the 
sanction of its Executive, the officers of which he might decline 
to commission or recognize. 

Very respectfully your obedient servant, 

DwiGHT Foster. 



Executive Department, October 23, 1861. 

Hon. B. C. Sargeant, Mayor of Lowell: 

My dear Sir,— The Order No. 23 applies to all persons pro- 
fessing to recruit under whatever authority for any regiments 
other than those therein designated. I put at Major-General 
B. F. Butler's disposal the 26th Regiment and the 28th, and 
desired all the influence he could bring to bear upon recruiting 
sliould be made to avail for the benefit of these corps until they 
should be filled. They, as yet, are not full. I understand that 
persons — acting under his supposed authority, but wholly in 
defiance of my explicit statement to that gentleman of my own 
wish and purpose — assume to enlist men into other, or for other, 
organizations, not included in Order No. 23 ; thus introducing 
more competition, when we had already strained the recruiting 
as far as it was prudent, and thus putting back some ten in- 
fantry, cavalry, and artillery corps, in progress. If Genera 
Butler favors these persons, I am equally pained and surprised. 



86 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

It is certainly without right and without autliority, detrimental 
to the service and tending to some breach between himself and 
me, when we ought to work, each in our respective spheres, as 
the patient servants of a cause it is glory enough to serve in 
any manner, however humble. Had not this interference been 
attempted, some of our regiments would have been full, which 
are not yet quite complete ; when if another and third regiment 
was needed from Massachusetts to complete General Butler's 
six regiments of infantry he wished for, I would cheerfully 
before now have designated some officers to begin its recruitment. 
The men whom General Butler or others in his interest have 
influenced to offer to. enlist will be fully recognized as Massa- 
chusetts volunteers on going into any of Colonel Jones' com- 
panies (26th Regiment) or Colonel Murpliy's (28tli Regiment}. 
And there is yet room for them. 

I am, with high regard, your obedient servant, 

John A. Ani>rew. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, 
Boston, October 21, ISGl. 

[General Order, No. 2.] 

By the authority of the President of the United States, in 
words following : — 

"War Department, Sept. 10, 186L 

" Major-General B. F. Butler is hereby authorized to raise, 
organize, arm, uniform and equip a Volunteer force for the 
war, in the New England States, not exceeding (6) sis regi- 
ments of the maximum standard, of such arms, and in such 
proportions, and in such manner as he may judge expedient ; 
and for this purpose, his orders and requisitions on the Quar- 
termaster, Ordnance, and other Staff Departments of the Army, 
are to be obeyed and answered ; provided the cost of such 
recruitment, armament, and equipment does not exceed, in the 
aggregate, that of like troops now or hereafter raised for the 
service of the United States. 

" Simon Cameron, Secretary of War. 

" Approved Sept. 12, 1861. 

" A. Lincoln." 

And with the consent, by telegram to the War Department, 
of tlieir Excellencies the Governors of the several States wherein 



CORRESPONDENCE. 37 

the troops are proposed to be raised, th% Commanding-General 
of the Department of New England proposes to recruit not 
exceeding six regiments of the maximum number of the various 
arms ; and, for that piirpose, has authorized recruitment in the 
several States of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, New 
Hampshire, and Maine. 

In order to correct any mistake or misunderstanding, the 
officers recruiting are empowered to enlist men in the service 
of the United States upon the terms following, and no other : — 

The troops are to be regiments or corps of the several 
States in which they are enlisted, and are to be deemed a part 
of the quota thereof. The officers to be commissioned by the 
Governors of the several States, according to the Constitution 
and Laws thereof, and of the United States. Pay to be thirteen 
dollars ($13) per montl)^ and one hundred dollars ($100) 
bounty at the end of the war, to the honorably discharged 
soldier. All the troops of this Division to be paid at least one 
month's pay before they leave their respective States or the 
camp of instruction, so as to be able to leave that sum with 
their families. 

In Massachusetts, towns and cities are empowered, by an 
Act of the legislature, to relieve the families and relatives, 
within a certain degree, of every inhabitant of the State who 
shall enlist in the service ; and, in the other New England 
States, bounties are offered and provision made for the support 
of the families of the enlisted soldier, and the troops raised 
under this Order will be entitled to all the bounty and relief 
provided by law for the volunteers of the several States. 
Especially will this be the case in Massachusetts, were tliere 
doubts otherwise, since his Excellency Governor Andrew tele- 
graphed to the War Department that he " would help General 
Butler to the utmost " in his recruiting. 

A vicious practice having come to the notice of tlie Com- 
manding-General of other sums being paid by officers recruiting 
in the State of Massachusetts, it is positively forbidden to any 
person recruiting under the authority of the United States, to 
offer, promise, or give any money or valuable thing whatever 
for recruits to any person ; and any person so offending will 
not be recommended for commission by the Commanding- 
General. 



38 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

No recruits are dq^pired who are liabituallj intemperate, or 
who have ever been convicted of any crime. Deserters from 
the British army are especially reprobated. It is the wish and 
desire of the Commanding-General to have in his Division only 
thoughtful, patriotic men, who are seriously desirous of aiding 
their country in her hour of peril, and who will enlist under 
her banner for this reason alone. 

All recruits will be immediately taken into camp upon their 
enlistment ; will be uniformed in the best manner, instructed 
by competent drill masters in the appropriate exercises for their 
proper arm of service, and their health and comfort specially 
cared for. In return for this, the most thorough subordination, 
discipline, and good conduct will be exacted. As soon as the 
Division, thus raised, is brought into a proper state of efficiency, 
it will march, under the orders of* the Commanding-General, 
upon a service already designated, and to which it is to be 
fitted. 

The numbers and names of regiments and corps will be 
hereafter designated by General Order. 

By command of Major-General Butler. 

Geo. C. Strong, Assistant Adjutant- General. 



Head Quarters, Department of New England, > 
Boston, October 25, 1861. ) 

To His Excellency Governor Andrew : 

Under authority given me of date of September 10th, by the 
"War Department of the United States, a copy whereof has here- 
tofore been sent to your Excellency, there has been enlisted 
and mustered into the service of the United States a company 
of Massachusetts volunteers, numbering eighty-six (86) men, 
inhabitants of said State. A copy of the descriptive list of said 
company is herewith forwarded for deposit in the office of the 
Adjutant-General of the State. 

These men have severally taken the oath required by law for 
enlisted men in the service of the«United States, and are now 
in course of instruction at " Camp Chase," Lowell. 

At Camp Chase, all the members of this company being 
present, (saving those absent without leave,) by written ballots, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 39 

in my presence, the members of the company of twenty-one (21) 
years and upwards, selected their officers by election, as follows : 

For Captain, Cadwallader F. Blanchard, of Lowell, who 
received eighty-three votes ; all others, (E. A. Fiske,) one vote. 

For 1st Lieutenant, James Parsons, of Lowell, who received 
j&fty-nine votes ; all others, (E. A. Fiske,) twenty-three votes. 

For 2d Lieutenant, Edward A, Fiske, of Lowell, who received 
seventy-nine votes, (all others, eligible,) Ira Moore, one vote. 

These gentlemen being thus severally elected in accordance 
with the principles of the Constitution, of Massachusetts, chap- 
ter 2, section 10, severally signified their acceptance of the 
trust reposed in them, and are approved and recommended by 
me, as persons fit to be appointed and commissioned in their 
respective offices. 

If expedient, after they are commissioned, they may be 
^reported for examination by a board appointed imder the law 
for that purpose by the General commanding the department. 

The President, in accordance with the Act of Congress, « 
approved July 22, 18(31, by authority vested in the General 
commanding this department, has accepted the service of this 
company of volunteers. They have been mustered into the 
service of the United States, in accordance with General Orders 
from the Adjutant-General's office, No. 58 and No. 1 of the 
current series. 

Said Blanchard, Parsons and Fiske, have been duly mustered 
into the service, and have been duly selected by the written 
votes of the members of said company, for their several offices, 
in accordance with the principles of the Constitution of Massa- 
chusetts. 

It therefore becomes my duty most respectfully to request 
your Excellency to commission these, the requisite company 
officers, so selected and recommended, in compliance with the 
reqiiisitions of said Act of Congress, section 5, which provides 
that the Governors of States furnishing volunteers under this 
Act, shall commission the field, staff, and company officers 
requisite for the said volunteers to their offices. 

If your Excellency knows or is informed of any personal 
disqualification in either of said officers, I respectfully ask that 



40 EECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

such disqualification may be stated, that others may be selected 
to be commissioned by the Governor of the State. 
I have the honor to be, most respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Benjamin F. Butler, 

Commanding Deparhnent of Neic England, and autliorized to raise 
troops as before stated. 



Executive Department, October 2G, 1861. 
To Major-General B. F. Butler, Z7. S. Volunteers., Commanding' 
Department of Neiv England : 

General, — I beg leave to acknowledge your letter, dated the 
25th inst., but not delivered by your messenger until this 
evening, and not accompanied by the descriptive list therein 
mentioned. 

I respectfully decline to issue commissions to the gentlemen 
for whom you therein request them, and if the descriptive list 
of the men over whom you desire that officers shall be placed 
had been forwarded by you, I should have directed the Adjutant- 
General not to deposit it in his office. This refusal is altogether 
independent of the military qualifications of the gentlemen for 
W'hom you request commissions,*and is caused entirely by the 
fact that these men who are assumed by you to have been 
properly organized into a company of Massachusetts Volunteers, 
have in reality been collected without due authority, in violation 
of law and of the express terms of an Order of the War Depart- 
ment of the United States, of a date subsequent to that of the 
authorization you rely upon in your General Order, Xo. 2, of 
the Department of New England, and also in violation of a 
General Order, (No. 23,) issued at my direction by the Adju- 
tant-General of this Commonwealth, as well as to the detriment 
of the several volunteer regiments now Incamped in this Com- 
monwealth, not yet recruited to the maximum standard. 

By authority from the War Department, under date of 
September 10, you are authorized to raise sis (6) regiments in 
New England. 

By a General Order of the same Department, under date of 
September 16, '•'- all persons having received authority from the 



CORRESPONDENCE. 41 

War Department to raise volunteer regiments, batteries or com- 
panies in tlie loyal States, are, icith their commands hereby 
placed under the order of the Governors of those States, to whom 
they will immediately report the present conditions of their 
respective organizations. These troops will be organized or 
re-organized and prepared for service b/j the Governors of the 
respective States, in the manner they judge most advantageous 
for the interests of the general government." 

And the special application of this Order to yourself is con- 
firmed by a telegraphic despatch from the Secretary of War to 
myself, which states that " General Butler has authority to 
concentrate a brigade for special service, all of ivhich is to be 
organized under the several Governors of the Eastern States ;'" 
and also, by the reply of the Secretary of War to a letter from 
myself, making inquiry concerning the orders and authority 
under which you are assuming to act, in reference to which 
the Secretary of War wrote : 

" It was the intention of this department to leave to your 
Excellency all questions concerning the organization of troops 
in your State, and the orders to which you refer were designed 
to be subject to the direction and control of the Executive of 
Massachusetts." 

Conformably therewith, by my command, General Order No. 
23 was issued by the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, of 
which I inclose a copy, prohibiting the formation of any new 
regiment or companies in this State, without orders from these 
liead-quarters, for the reason that it was of the first importance 
that the eight regiments of infantry, one of cavalry, and four 
batteries of artillery, which were then in process of organization 
in Massacluisetts, should be completed without the delay which 
f would bo caused by additional competition. 

I assigned to you the 26th Regiment, (Colonel Jones,) and 
the 28th Regiment, (Colonel Thomas S. Murphy,) as tiie fair 
proportion which Massachusetts should contribute to the brigade 
of six regiments which you desired to obtain from New England ; 
and being desirous to help you to the utmost, I even offered, so 
soon as sucli a time should elapse as would probably be suffi- 
cient to complete the recruiting of some of the nine regiments 
then in progress, to begin to organize a third regiment for you, 
(being more than the proportion of Massachusetts of the six,) 
6 



42 EECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

and to offer its command to an experienced officer of the Topo- 
graphical Engineers, who I had previously ascertained would 
have been willing to accept it. 

You declined this additional offer, audit is against my orders 
that you have proceeded to collect men, and undertake to 
organize them under military form. By this action you have 
retarded and confused the recruiting service tln-oughout the 
Commonwealth, have deprived several Massachusetts regiments 
of participation in important military operations now in pro- 
gress, and to which they had been pre-assigned, by diverting 
recruits who might otherwise have filled their ranks, under 
promises of peculiar privilege as to pay ; and, more than all, 
you have set an example of insubordination, especially lament- 
able in the instance of an officer of so high rank. 

If the eighty-six men mentioned by you in your letter, desire 
to enter the service as Massachusetts Volunteers, I will order 
them to be drafted into the Twenty-Sixth (26th) Regiment, if 
there is yet room for them there, or into the Twenty-Eighth 
(28th) Regiment, which is only partially recruited, (and to 
which, though assigned to you, I do not learn that you have 
given any attention.) If they desire to serve their country 
efficiently, they will find opportunity there. Or, (though I do 
not desire to withdraw them from regiments destined for your 
command,) if neither of those corps are satisfactory, they can 
be furnished with service in other Massachusetts regiments. 

I desire to call your attention, General, to the fact that the 
General Order, No. 2, issued by yourself as Commander of the 
Department of New England, does not properly represent the 
relation which the men collected by you against my orders hold 
to the executive authorities and the legislative acts of this Com- 
monwealth, and unless modified, is likely to cause mwch indi- 
vidual perplexity and distress. In the same Order you have 
quoted a single sentence from a telegraphic despatch sent by 
me to the President of the United States, in such a manner and 
in such an association with other words, as to give a mistaken 
impression of its meaning, and of my own purposes and position. 

I cannot conclude this note without an expression of keen 
regret that my plain and clearly defined official duty lias brought 
me into any collision with a gentleman, whom in other spheres 
I have known so long, whose capacity and zeal for the public 



CORRESPONDENCE. 43 

service is unquestioned by me, and between whom and myself 
there ought to be nothing inconsistent with cordial, patriotic 
and friendly co-operation in the support and defence of a cause 
grand as the proportions of tlie heritage of our fathers, and 
blessed as their own immortality of fame. 

I am respectfully and obediently yours, etc., etc., 

John A. Andrew, 

Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, 
Boston, Nov. 6, 1861. 

To His Excellency Governor Andrew: — 

I beg leave to call His Excellency's attention to the fact that 
I have received no answer to my note of October 12, the receipt 
of which was acknowledged by His Excellency's Secretary in 
his absence. 

In .the fear that it may not have reached His Excellency, 
I have ventured to call attention to it, and also to know if any 
reply may be expected. 

Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

Benj. F. Butler, Major- General commanding. 



Executive Department, Boston, \ 
November 6, 1861. j 

Major-General Benj. F. Butler: 

Sir, — I have the honor to reply, that on no consideration will 
the enlistment or organization of any cavalry or dragoons or 
mounted soldiers be permitted in this Commonwealth for the 
volunteer service until the First Cavalry Volunteer. Regiment 
under Colonel Robert Williams shall have been fully organized 
and ready to march. 

I have the honor to be. 

Your ob't serv't, 

• John A. Andrew. 



44 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

Head-Quarters, Sprixgfield, Nov. 11, 1861. 
Adjutant-General William Schouler, State House, Boston : 

General, — It having been represented to the Governor a 
few days since, by Colonel Thomas G. Stevenson, commanding 
24th j\[assachiisotts Yolunteers, that Major-General Butler had 
sent him an order to deliver up some five men, mustered into 
the United States service in the 24th Regiment, the Governor 
directed Colonel Stevenson not to deliver up the men. 

His Excellency now learns that General Butler sent an order 
to Colonel Dimmick, commanding at Fort Warren, this morn- 
ing, to have these same men delivered up to him, and this 
order could not be executed, as the names of tlie men were not 
given. At the same time Colonel Dimmick intimated to 
Colonel Stevenson, that if the names of any of the men were 
given by General Butler, he would feel bound to deliver them 
on the order. 

The Governor directs me to state, that General Butler has no 
authority to enlist men in Massachusetts, unless for the regular 
army, excepting such as he shall enlist in those regiments which 
he is authorized to raise by the Governor, — to wit, the 26*thand 
28th Regiments. If, therefore, the men claimed by General 
Butler, were not enlisted either in the 26th or 28th, His Excel- 
lency orders that Colonel Stevenson shall not give them up, 
General Butler having no claim upon them ; and if Colonel 
Stevenson cannot protect these men at Fort Warren, he is 
ordered to remove tliem to his camp at Readville. 

You will issue orders to this effect to Colonel Stevenson 
without delay and with the utmost despatch. 

I have the honor to be, very respectfully, 
Your ob't serv't, 
Harrison Ritchie, Lieut.- Col. Alde-de-Camp. 



Head-Quarters, Boston, Nov. 12, 1861. 
\_Special Order, No. 570.] 

It having been represented at these Head-Quarters that Major- 
General Butler, in command of the Department of New Eng- 
land, sent to Colonel Stevenson, 24th Regiment Massachusetts 
Yolunteers, an order to deliver up to him certain soldiers in said 



CORRESPONDENCE. 45 

24tli Regiment mustered into the United States service, which 
order Colonel Stevenson did not obey ;— the Commander-in- 
Chief approves Colonel Stevenson's conduct. 

Major-General Butler has no authority to enlist men in Mas- 
sachusetts, (unless for the regular army,) excepting for those 
regiments which he was authorized to raise by his Excellency 
the Commander-in-Chief, viz.: the 26th and 28th. If, there- 
fore, tlie men claimed by General Butler were not enlisted in 
either the 2Gth or 28th Regiment, Colonel Stevenson shall not 
give them up. If Colonel Stevenson cannot protect and hold 
his men at Fort Warren, he shall immediately remove them to 
camp Massasoit, Readville, and hold them until otherwise 
ordered. 

Colonel Stevenson is charged with the execution of this 
Order. 

By order of His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and 
Co m m a nde r- in- Cli ief. 

William Schouler, Adjutant- General. 



Executive Department, Bostox, November 27, ISGl. 

Brigadier-General Thomas, Adjutant- General U. S. Army : 

General, — For the sake of nearly a thousand misled men, 
who now occupy a position most unfortunate for themselves 
and their families, I beg to request your attention to the fol- 
lowing considerations, concerning the troops which Major- 
General Butler has raised, contrary to my orders, and without 
authority from any source entitled to confer it. 

Referring to my letters, addressed to that officer, under date 
of October 5th and October 2Gth, last, copies of which have 
been filed in the War Department, I would recall to your 
recollection, that bj General Order No. 78, issued by you, on 
September 16th, General Butler was placed under my orders, 
in respect to recruiting in Massachusetts any portion of the 
force which, by authority from the War Department, dated 
September 10th, he was empowered to raise in New England, 
and also, that under date of September 27th, I was assured by 
the Secretary of War as follows : — 



46 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

" It VJds the intention of this Department to leave to your 
Excellency all questions concerning' the organization of troops 
in your State, and the Orders to ivhich you refer, [i. e. those 
concerning General Butler,'] were designed to be subject to the 
approval and control of the Executive of Massachusetts.''^ 

Also, that under date of October 5th, the Secretary telegraphed 
as follows, in reply to an inquiry from me, as to General Butler's 
power and position here : — 

" General Butler has authority to concentrate a brigade for 
special service, all of ivhich is to be organized ufider the several 
Governors of the Eastern States.''' 

By reference to my letters of Oct. 5th, and Oct. 26th, before 
mentioned, and to facts well known to you from other sources, 
you are aware that in disobedience to my ordei's, General Butler 
proceeded to recruit an irregular force in Massachusetts, which 
now amounts to nearly a thousand men, and it is of those I 
wish to speak. 

The fair proportion of Massachusetts in the six regiments 
General Butler was expected to obtain from New England, was 
two regiments. Accordingly I assigned to him our 26th and 
28th, the first in an advanced state of preparation, and the latter 
in a condition most favorable to speedy recruitment and organ- 
ization. Desiring to perfect his force in every arm of the 
service, so far as was consistently in my power, I also com- 
menced to recruit for him the 4th Massachusetts Light Artillery 
Battery. 

At that time, there were recruiting in the State eight regi- 
ments of infantry, one of cavalry, and four artillery batteries. 
Notwithstanding tlie fact that I might thereby create too great a 
strain on our capacity to raise men, in my desire to aid him, I, 
on October 5th, offered to commence after a short interval, the 
recruitment for his expedition of a third regiment, (being much 
more than the Massachusetts proportion of his six,) but this 
offer he declined ; and against my orders, and conflicting with 
the regular recruiting system of the State, and retarding the 
completion of all the regiments then in progress for Generals 
Sherman and Burnside, he proceeded to assemble tlie irregular 
force I have described, which is scattered throughout the Com- 
monwealth, in various camps from Lowell to Pittsfield. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 47 

You are aware that I have declined to commission the officers 
over the force thus irregularly raised, or to organize it into 
regiments ; and you have approved of my determination in that 
respect. But the services of these men ought not to be lost to 
the country, and however much they may be charged with 
responsibility for the insubordinate means by which they were 
collected, yet I trust that they may be disposed of in such a 
manner as to enable them to be properly officered, and to admit 
their families to the benefits (now denied to them) provided by 
chapter 222 of the Massachusetts statutes of 18G1, known as 
the " Soldiers' Families' Relief Act." This chapter of our 
statutes, which became a law on May 23d last, instituted a sys- 
tem of public charity towards the needy families of our troops, 
varying in amount from |1 per week to $^12 per month, 
according to the necessities of each case. 

In dispensing this charity, (for further details of which please 
refer to the copy of tlie Act herewith inclosed,) the municipal 
authorities of our towns and cities act as the agents of the Com- 
monwealth, and look to the descriptive rolls of our troops, on 
deposit in the office of our Adjutant-General, as jyrwia facie 
evidence of entry in United States service, of the soldiers whose 
families apply to them for relief. But the descriptive rolls of 
General Butler's irregular troops are not received at that office, 
such troops not being raised under any authority from the 
Commonwealth ; and our Attorney-General has rendered an 
official opinion concerning the "Relief Act," to the effect that 
its provisions apply only to such troops as are raised in this 
State, " under the authority of the Governor, and the officers of 
which are by him commissioned." You will perceive then in 
what an unfortunate condition in reference to this charity, these 
men are therefore placed. 

In consideration of all these facts, I think that orders should be 
issued from the War Department at once regulating this matter. 
The men have been sworn into the United Statq^ service by 
officers under General Butler's direction ; and they can be 
used to good advantage in recruiting up the 28th Regiment, 
(now about 750 strong,) which would have been filled to the 
maximum number some weeks since had it not been harrassed 
by this irregular and insubordinate competition. Tlie surplus, 
after filling the 28th, cannot be better employed than in recruit- 



48 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

ing our 15tli and 20th Regiments, which suffered at Ball's 
Bluff, and in completing the companies which I am authorized 
to raise to constitute an additional Massachusetts regiment, in 
combination with the seven companies which now constitute 
the Massachusetts Battalion at Fortress Monroe and Newport 
News. 

I feel that I have presented ample reasons for immediate ac- 
tion by the AVar Department in regard to these men, in the 
facts : — 

1. That they are now commanded by no legally constituted 
officers, and therefore not subject to proper military command. 

2. That by disposing of them in the manner I propose, no 
less than four regiments, i. e. the 28th, 15th, 20th, and that at 
Fortress Monroe, all of them now defective or crippled, would 
be put in condition for immediately effective service. 

3. That by such a disposition, their families, many of which 
are in great need, would become entitled to the benefits of the 
State relief act. 

4. That a fruitful cause of discontent, strife, and embarrass- 
ment would be effectually removed. 

I beg to call your attention further, in this connection, to the 
fact, that by Major-General Butler's order, the 4th Massachu- 
setts Light Artillery Battery, which I raised for his expedition, 
was last week, without my knowledge, placed on board the 
steamer Constitution and despatched to sea ; none of its officers 
having been commissioned, and no application having been 
made to me, from any source, to appoint or commission them ; 
and no notice having been given to me of any intention to 
remove the battery, at that time, or in that manner, from the 
State. If proper notice had been given to me from any source, 
of General Butler's desire that the battery should sail at that 
time, I should have been hap^ to have completed its organiza- 
tion by the appointment of officers. But the first notice I 
received coiccrning the matter, was a hasty letter from one of 
the members of the battery, addressed to the Adjutant-General 
of the State, dated " On board Steamer Constitution, Boston 
Harbor, Nov. 21, 18(Jl," and stating that it was at sea by 
Gen. Butler's command, and was under the direction of men 
purporting to be officers, who had been elected by the remain- 
ing men at a caucus convened by General Butler's order. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 49 

With regard to some of these men, presuming thus to act as 
officers, charges are on file in this Department, which, if suh- 
stantiated, prove them to be persons of infamous character, 
unfit for any station of personal trust, honor, or responsibility. 

The 26th Regiment, which sailed in the Constitution, and is 
one of the regiments raised by me and assigned to General 
Butler, was fully recruited, carefully uniformed and equipped 
by the State, and its officers were duly appointed and com- 
missioned by me. But this battery was luirried away, without 
my knowledge, unofficered, incompletely uniformed and 
cquij)i)ed, not fully recruited, not having any of its rolls pre- 
pared or deposited in the Adjutant-General's office, and utterly 
unfit for service. 

In making these suggestions and representations to you, 
General, I am oppressed by an inexpressible feeling of regret, 
and almost of humiliation, that in this time of trouble I should 
be found, even under compulsion, complaining of any person 
or of any grievance. And if I had no public function, nor any 
duty other than to myself, I would be silent. But the public 
service requires obedience, subordination, decorum and respect 
to constituted authority, from all, to insure good order and 
the rights of all. And since Major-General Butler returned to 
New England in September last, authorized to concentrate a 
force here " subject " so far as concerned this Commonwealth 
" to the approval and control of the Executive of Blassachu- 
setts, all of V' hick force was to be organized ii^der the several 
Governors of the Eastern States,''^ and in view of the facts : — 

1. That the policy of the War Department was clearly 
avowed to be non-interference with our enlistments. 

2. That I assigned to General Butler our full quota, and 
a battery besides, of the force he was authorized to secure. 

3. That in my letter to the Secretary of War, under date 
of October 6th, (to which I beg to refer you, and to which no 
reply or acknowledgment has ever been received by mo,) I 
avowed clear and commanding reasons, why our recruitment 
should not be further crowded by competition, to which reasons 
they being also presented to General Butler in my letter to him 
of October 5th, he never has ventured any reply or objection. 

4. That notwithstanding, and without my consent and 
against my declared will, and contrary to my General Order 

7 



50 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

No. 23, (a copy of which you will find annexed to my letter of 
October 6th to the Secretary,) issued conformably to the Gen- 
eral Order of the War Department No. 78, and in defiance of 
my rightful " control,^^ General Butler assumed to raise other 
and irregular bodies of soldiers, paying no heed, and bestowing 
no care to the 28tli Regiment, which was placed at his disposal. 

5. And that General Butler has long ago been informed by 
me, in writing, that I had determined not to organize such 
bodies of irregular troops, or grant commissions to officers over 
them ; — from which determination I feel it to be my public 
duty not to depart : — 

I feel that I cannot in justice to these men whom he has 
thus deluded into his movement, leave them sworn into United 
States service, as I understand them to have been, without at 
least this effort to secure to them a position in the service 
where they will be recognized by this Commonwealth as its 
regular troops, and whereby their families may become entitled 
to the benefits of the aid provided by law for the needy families 
of soldiers raised under the sanction of the authorities of 
Massachusetts. 

And here I deem it my duty deliberately and earnestly to 
request that the appointment of Major-General Butler to the 
command of the Department of New England shall be revoked, 
or that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, at least, shall be 
annexed to the Department of New York or to any other 
Department fo^md most convenient. 

No want was felt by us of any change from our connection 
•with the old " Department of the East," nor was such change 
asked for or desired by any one to be affected by it, so far as I 
can learn, save by the Commander of the New Department of 
New England himself. 

I make this request as well from self-respect as from convic- 
tion of its rightfulness ; and I urge it with all the earnestness 
which can become me in a matter of the utmost concern — 
because in view of the utterly contemptuous manner in which 
Major-General Butler has conducted in the matter to which 
allusion has been made above, and the system of studious insult 
which he has practiced towards this Commonwealth, and the 
lawful powers which it is my duty to uphold, I cannot quietly 
endure longer without remonstrance. If I should continue 



CORRESPONDENCE. 51 

silent, I should become an accomplice. I should help to dis- 
courage other good men wlio depend on my own manhood and 
fidelity, and official as well aa personal honor, to maintain my 
proper authority, and make good my warranties expressed or 
implied in the orders and authorities issued and imparted by 
me relative to the subject of raising troops in this State for the 
Federal Volunteer service. 

Moreover, the departure of Major-General Butler for another 
and I'emote theatre of action, to which he announces that he is 
bound, will leave the Department without any commander 
within reach of the duties, if mvy, which pertain properly to its 
command. 

1 had hoped that my letter ^f October 6th, to the Honorable 
Secretary of War, would have resulted in some authoritative 
regulation of all these matters, without obliging me further to 
assume the apparent attitude of accusation or of controversy. 
But the assumption of General Butler, as I learn from the 
public prints and from public report, to organize a regiment, 
and his persistency in demeaning himself in a manner which 
leaves me no assurance that my own efforts to raige the new 
regiments for which requisition has been made upon me by the 
Department, may not be interfered with or even defeated by 
other and more extensive usurpations on his part, oblige me to 
take a stand where we now are, to ask for a proper disposition 
of existing facts and for immunity for the future. 

I address this letter to you, General, in order that it may be 
laid before the President, or the Secretary of War, or the 
General-in-Chief, by yourself, as the head of the appropriate 
bureau of communication, according to your judgment of the 
necessity and propriety of the case ; and I have the honor to 
remain. 

Most respectfully, your obedient servant, 

John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts. 



52 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

Head-Quarters op the Army, Adjutant-General's Office, 

Washington, December 3, 18G1. 

IGeneral Order, No. 105.] 

The following orders have been* received from the Secretary 
of War: 

I, No more regiments, batteries, or independent companies 
will be raised by the Governors of the States except upon the 
special requisition of the War Department. 

Those now forming in the various States will be completed 
under direction of the respective Governors thereof, unless it 
be deemed more advantageous to the service to assign the men 
already raised to regiments, batteries or independent companies 
now in the field in order to fill 4ip. their organizations to the 
maximum standard prescribed by law. 

By command of Major-General McClellan. 

L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, ) 
Boston, December 17, 1861. ) 

To His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor and Commander- 

in- Ch ief : 
Governor, — On the 27th day of November there was for- 
warded to the Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth a letter 
of wliich the enclosed is a copy. No answer has been returned 
to that letter, and no action taken on its request. May General 
Butler request His Excellency to favor him with a reply, 
whether he will or will not commission the officers therein named. 
If any are objectionable General Butler would be pleased to be 
informed of the objections and will recommend others. As 
this Battery was raised under the authority of the State, and 
with His Excellency's approval, it did not seem to come within 
either the spirit or the letter of His Excellency's refusal to 
commission any officers for troops raised under the authority of 
the War Department for General Butler. A rcjily to this com- 
munication either in refusal or acquiescence would be but 
justice to the acting officers of this Battery but a matter of 
entire indifference to 

His Excellency's ob't serv't, 

Ben J. F. Butler, Major-General commanding. 



CORRESPONDENCB. 53 

Head-Quarters, Department op New England, ) 
Boston, November 27, 1S61. | 

General William Schouler, Adjutant- General State of Mas- 
sachusetts : 
General, — I have the honor to enclose a list of the officers of 
the company known as the Salem Light Artillery, with a request 
that they may be commissioned by His Excellency the Governor, 
should they be deemed competent. 

Captain Manning is understood to have been recommended 
by the Adjutant-General of the State. 

Captain, Charles H. Manning; Lieutenants, Fred. W. 
Reinhardt, Joseph R. Salla, Henry Davidson, George W. Taylor. 
These officers have beeu duly elected by the said company. 
By order of Major-General B. F. Butler. \ 
I have the honor to be. 

Very respectfully, your ob't serv't, 

Geo. C. Strong, Assistant A/lft-Gen. ■ 



Executive Department, Boston, ) 
December 17, ISGl. j 

To Major General Butler : 

Genei#l, — I am directed by His Excellency the Governor to 
state in reply to your note of this day, that it was his intention 
at the proper time to appoint and commission suitable officers 
for the 4th Battery, but that he was not advised of their intended 
removal from the Coiftmon wealth, nor was any request made for 
such appointments, either from the company or from the acting 
officers, or from any other source, until eight days after the 
whole company had been removed from Massachusetts, when the 
Governor was requested by Major Strong to commission certain 
persons as officers, on the ground that they had been elected 
by the company, as it was said. But the company was gone. 
None of its rolls having been deposited in the office of the 
Adjutant-General, there were no means of identifying its men. 
At the time of Major Strong's request it was beyond the reach 
of any communication, nor was it easy to verify the qualifica- 
tions of the persons suggested for officers except in so far as 
they were within the general knowledge of persons at the State 



54 REOHUITING OF TROOPS. 

House. As to the person named for First Lieutenant, the 
information received by the Governor is that his character is 
such as to render him unfit for appointment. As to the one 
proposed for Fourth Lieutenant, he is said to have remained at 
home dangerously sick, nor has the Governor any information 
to justify the beUef that he is physically fitted for service, or 
likely within a reasonable time to become so. 

The Governor, with these exceptions, is not conscious of 
having any objections to the other appointments suggested in 
that company, if the opinions of those competent to judge 
confirm the alleged choice of the men, save that in his own 
judgment Mr. Sala is more competent to the captaincy than 
Mr. Manning. Being personally responsible to the company, 
to the people of the State and the country and to the cause of 
us all, for the appointments he makes, he is unwilling to permit 
those who are to be commanded to suffer the infliction of poor 
officers, even though suggested by themselves ; and he has had 
frequent occasion during the year to relieve men from officers 
whom they had recommended or chosen and whose incompe- 
tency or unfitness was found by them to be intolerable. Nor 
is this strange, for the volunteers, unlike our militia, are not 
enlisted under circumstances, whether as to mutual acquaintance 
or intimate knowledge of proposed officers, or the means of 
ascertaining and comparing the respective merits of accessible 
candidates, favorable to the safe and successful selection of 
their officers, without much aid and protection against the 
practices of the designing and the ambitious. 

The Governor is desirous of commissioning officers for the 
Battery, and would be glad to receive the testimonials, if any, 
on which the claims of the persons in this instance proposed for 
appointment, are founded. 

I am directed, in conclusion, to suggest to you that the neg- 
lect to deposit in the office of the Adjutant-General proper 
descriptive rolls of the Battery, is liable to cause much incon- 
venience and distress to the families of its members, unless 
promptly remedied, for in administering the provisions of 
chapter 222 of the statutes enacted at the extra session of the 
legislature of this Commonwealth in May last, it is the habit of 
the municipal authorities of the towns and cities to look to such 
rolls for prima facie evidence of the entry into service of those 



CORRESPONDENCE. 55 

soldiers whose families apply to them for relief, and also the 
habit of the State Auditor to make the same reference in 
auditing the municipal accounts of expenditures under the Act. 
I have the honor to be your ob't serv't, 

A. G. Browne, Jr., 
Lieut.- Col. and Mililarij Secretary. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, 7 
Boston, December 18, 1861. ]" 

Lieut.-Col. A. G. Browne, Jr., 

Mi/itar// Sec^y to His Excellency the Governor of Mass.: 
Si|p — Major-General Butler, commanding the Department of 
New England, directs that the enclosed communication be re- 
spectfully returned to His Excellency Governor Andrew, as 
being of improper address and signature. 
I am CoL, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

Geo. C. Strong, A. A. General. 



Boston, December 18, 1861. 

To ]\raior-General Benj. F. Butler, Sfc, Sfc., Sfc. 

Sir, — Accustomed myself to attempt to reach the substance 
of duty through the forms of natural courtesy and propriety, 
which I do not willingly or wittingly offend, 1 make no doubt 
that my education and ]|p,tural acuteness may both fail some- 
times to instruct me in those technicalities of breeding which 
regulate the formal intercourse of society. 

I beg you therefore not to hold me to such rigidness of pro- 
priety as by the letter of IMajor Strong, A. A. General, written 
this day to my Military 'Secretary, by your command, you have 
exacted of him. 

Having myself seen and known the contents of the letter of 
Col. Browne, which is returned to him this day, with the criti- 
cism that it is not admissible, " as being of improper address 
and signature," I find myself unable to instruct him how to 
amend it, since the particulars of the offence were not stated, 



56 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

and were not discernable to me, nor, as I am assured, by him. 
I beg to assume all blame, if any there is, and to receive the 
proper correction as due to my own want of knowledge. 

I have therefore ventured, as one citizen writing to anotlier, 
in which capacity I may be less likely to offend propriety and 
unknown laws and usages, to beg leave to address myself to 
you ; and, inclosing the objectionable letter, with Major Strong's 
reply, to ask the favor of a precise statement of the offen'ce 
committed, and to be instructed what amendment would relieve 
it from all animadversion on its form both of address and sig- 
nature. 

And I liave the honor to be. 

Your niipst obedient servant, 

John A. And^w. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, ) 
Boston, December 19, 1861. j' ' 

To His Excellency John A. Andrew, 

Governor of BlassacJiv setts : — 

Sir, — I am instructed by Major-General Butler, to state, in 
reply to your Excellency's communication of yesterday, that 
the letter addressed by Lieut.-Col. Browne to General Butler, 
was returned, because in official correspondence, on military 
subjects, and between military men, it is customary to conform, 
if not to the letter of military law, (paragraph 449, last clause, 
Army Regulations,) at least to certain conventionalities equiva- 
lent thereto. 

The letter to which that was a reply was addressed to //our 
Excellencij ^ and therefore signed by General Butler himself as 
claiming to be your Excellency's co-ordinate. 

Lieut.-Col. Browne's letter was addressed not to tlic Cliief of 
Staff at these head-quarters, but directly to the Major-Gcneral 
commanding the Department, and even then not in his official 
capacity. 

General Butler desires me to state, moreover, tliat the pro- 
prieties above discussed are herein violated only because your 
Excellency's letter was received at the moment of General 



CORRESPONDENCE. 57 

Butler's departure for Washington, and he was therefore unable 
himself to respond, as was his desire to do. 
I have the honor to be. Sir, 

Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 

George C. Strong, 
A. A. General and Chief of Staff, 



Executive Department, Boston, } 
December 20, 1801. j 

To Major George C. Strong, AssH Adft General and Chief of 
Staff of Major- General Butler : 

Major : — I am directed by His Excellency Governor Andrew, 
to acknowledge the receipt this evening, of your letter bearing 
date yesterday, and to suggest to you certain misconceptions 
upon which it is written. 

1. With the single exception of the President of the United 
States, no officer or person, whether State or National, civil 
or military, whether temporarily sojourning or permanently 
residing within the limits of Massachusetts, can be recognized, 
within such limits, as the " co-ordinate" of the Governor of the 
Commonwealth in official dignity or rank. 

You are reminded of this fact simply because His Excellency 
would not seem to waive a point important in our federative 
system ; of which system the President is the sole head, without 
any co-ordinate, and in which the States composing it are as 
essential to its constitutional life as are the people themselves, 
each respective Governor being the official head of his own 
State without any co-ordinate within his jurisdiction, saving the 
President of the United States, who is the Federal head, and 
the official superior of all magistrates and officers. 

2. But irrespective of this fact, it appears very remarkable 
that a gentleman of acute percepticA and trained professional 
intellect, such as Major-General Butler has acquired by exten- 
sive experience in civil life, should quote the regulations for the 
army of the United States, as dictating ceremonies of official 
intercourse to a magistrate who is no part of that army, and 
not subject to its regulations, for it cannot admit of question 
that no regulations promulgated by the Secretary of War, and 

8 



58 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

liable to constant variation, can be imperative upon the Governor 
of a State, who, if General Butler's assertions of law and 
courtesy in this respect, are true, might, for the offence which 
General Butler alleges, be amenable to a court martial, and as 
a result of its finding be " dismissed from the service," which 
could only mean, be deposed from his office as Governor by the 
sentence of a court martial of the Federal army, if the theory ' 
be correct that his office is necessarily responsible to such army 
regulations. 

But it needs no reductio ad ahsurdum to test the pretension 
that the Federal army regulations govern the Governors of the 
States, for in those regulations the catalogue of officers which 
they contemplate, is explicitly set forth, being from 1st to 16th 
(i. e. from lieutenant-general to corporal,) inclusive, and the 
Governors of the States are nowhere included in the enumera- 
tion ; nor does it seem to require argument to establish the fact 
that this lex scripta which is quoted by you under Major-General 
Butler's direction, to justify his abrupt and ungentle treatment 
of an important and polite business letter, on a mere pretext 
of technical formality, fails as utterly to justify his action, as 
does the reason of the thing. 

3. Another error, Major, to which I am directed to request 
especial attention, consists in your entirely ignoring the fact 
that by General Order No. 78 of the War Department of the 
United States, bearing date on the 16th of September last? 
Major-General Butler was placed under the orders of the 
Governor of Massachusetts, in respect to raising, organizing, 
re-organizing and preparing for service any portion designed to 
be raised in Massachusetts, of the volunteer force which on 
the 10th of September he received authority from the Secretary 
of War to raise in the New England States. 

It is not intended in this connection to raise or to discuss the 
question whether under existing laws the authority assumed to 
be granted to Major-Genei^l Butler by the War Department 
was not invalid from the beginning, so far as concerns the 
raising of troops in Massachusetts, this Commonwealth having 
neither refused nor omitted to respond cheerfully to every 
requisition for troops made upon its executive by the Federal 
authorities ; and the point is mentioned only to guard against 
the possible use of this correspondence at any future period to 



■ CORRESPONDENCE. 59 

signify an admission on the part of the Commonwealth of 
Massachusetts of the right of the Federal government, under 
existing laws, to authorize individuals to raise troops in any- 
State without such omission or refusal on the part of tlie 
authorities of such State to respon(i to requisitions. 

In the present condition of National affairs, the Governor 
considers it impolitic and unpatriotic to embarrass the public 
service by undue nicety of etiquette, and he regrets that Major- 
General Butler's views of duty in this particular should not 
have corresponded with his own so as to render the present 
correspondence unnecessary ; but since questions of mere 
etiquette have thus been mooted by General Butler, I am bound 
by an imperative necessity which his criticism upon my letter 
of December 17th imposes upon me, to recall to his mind that 
he has himself written to Governor Andrew, without prefixing 
any address and without signature, and that also under circum- 
stances which lead to the inference of intentional, — not acci- 
dental, — discourtesy, when we consider Major-General Butler's 
high estimate and appreciation of the forms of politeness which 
belong to the intercourse of officers and gentlemen. 

And much less ought I in this connection, to pass unnoticed 
(what has never been referred to before and what would have 
remained without mention had not this subject of etiquette 
been introduced by Major-General Butler himself,) General 
Butler's letter of October 12th, written to Governor Andrew, 
but not addressed to him except in so far as he is mentioned in 
the third person, after the fashion of dinner invitations and the 
like on private and social occasions, and not signed by the 
Major-General with any addition of rank or command, and 
frequently reiterating the Governor's constitutional title and 
name with significant and conspicuous marks of quotation 
surrounding them wherever repeated. 

It is customary to affix marks of quotation, in manuscript, 
to indicate passages or expressions borrowed from some other 
to whom they ought* to be accredited. But I am not aware that 
a name given in baptism or inherited from a parent, or a title 
conferred by the constitution on a magistrate as his official 
description, are in any sense original ideas or expressions which 
it is usual to designate by marks of quotation. Nor is this a 
matter in which a gentleman of Major-General Butler's learn- 



60 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

ing and urbanity could have erred by mistake. And therefore, 
although Governor Andrew never alluded to this circumstance, 
nor ever allowed it in any manner to interfere with his own 
courteous demeanor towards Major-General Butler in the busi- 
ness and correspondence q^ this department, yet I must now 
allude to it for the purpose of protesting that a matter of 
pnreJy formal inadvertence, (if it had been an error at all,') 
committed by me in a letter addressed by the Governor's order 
to Major-General Butler, was not a matter to which any right 
remained to tliat officer to take exception. 

When a gentleman has violated the substance of courtesy, — 
as did General Butler in that letter of October 12th, — by a 
studious, indirect, insinuating, but not less significant, intentional 
act of impoliteness towards a magistrate whose only offence was 
fidelity to his duty, to the laws, and to the rights of his official 
position, he cannot be permitted, without comment, to arraign 
another for a supposed breach of military intercourse simply 
formal, technical and arbitrary, as he has assumed to arraign 
me in this matter through yourself. 

I beg, Major, that you will not consider me regardless of the 
exactest courtesy towards yourself, both personally, and in the 
official relation you sustain towards Major-General Butler ; but 
I beg you also to excuse any undue harshness of expression, 
when you remember that it was by your hand that Major- 
General Butler repelled and criticised the letter addressed by me 
to him by order of my own official commander, and also that 
it is over your signature that he has written a letter to the 
Governor, making thereby an arbitrary exception to a rule 
which he cites against myself. The rule as he defines it, not 
existing, the conduct of which he complains, being strictly 
correct, and he being not only in an error, but in error also in 
the precise particular wherein he assumes to make correction, 
it has become my unpleasant duty to reply and in my reply to 
cover the whole field opened by the attack. 

The whole matter concisely stated, is this : Major-General 
Butler recommended to Governor Andrew the appointment of 
certain officers to a Battery of Massachusetts Volunteer Light 
Artillery, just as recommendations for military appointments 
are daily made in great numbers to this department by individ- 
uals of every description and condition, — only that in this 



CORRESPONDENCE. 61 

instance the recommendation was justly entitled to especial 
attention and consideration as coming from a military officer 
of the highest rank, for whom the Battery had been authorized 
by the Governor to be raised, and under whom it might be 
called to serve. The fact that the recommendation was com- 
municated through an officer of Major-General Butler's staff 
did not change that into an official proceeding, which was 
necessarily and intrinsically only a personal and informal pro- 
ceeding. To this recommendation the Governor directed a 
suitable reply to be returned by an officer of his staff, to which 
an answer is awaited, and His Excellency regrets that the 
organization of a Battery of Light Artillery already in the 
presence of the enemy, should be delayed by the raising at 
this moment of any question of etiquette, by Major-General 
Butler. 

In conclusion, I have the honor to state that the present 
communication woudl be addressed to Major-General Butler 
personally, were His Excellency not advised by you of the 
absence of that officer at Washington. 

I have the honor to be. Major, 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
A. G. Browne, Jr., Lieut.- Col. and Military Secretary. 



Adjutant General's Office, Washington, 7 

December 23, 18G1. ]" 

His Excellency Governor Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts, 

Boston, Mass. 
Sir, — By direction of the Secretary of War, I enclose a list of 
the commissioned officers of the Eastern Bay State Regiment, 
under command of General Butler, with the request that you 
will commission the officers ther-ein named, and, as the regiment 
is from your State, that you will give it a number as a Massa- 
chusetts regiment. I have the honor to request that the 
enclosed list may be returned to this office. 

I am, Sir, very respectfully your obedient servant, 

L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. 



62 



RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 



ROSTER OF THE EASTERN BAY STATE REGIMENT, No. 2. 

Massachusetts Volunteers, New England Division, raised by virtue of the 
authority of the War Department, approved by the President, Sept. 12, 
1861. 



Colonel, 
Lieutennnt-Colonel, 

]\Iajor, 

Adjutant, . 
Surgeon, 

Quartermaster, . 
Assistant-Surgeon, 

Sergeant-lNIajor, 

Commissary-Sergeant, 

Quartermastei'-Sergeant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 



Jonas H. French, Boston. 



Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 



STAFF. 

. C. A. R. Dimon, Salem. 

. Charles W. Moore, Boston. 

. John M. G. Parker, Dracut. 

. Alfred F. Holt, Cambridgeport. 

COMMISSIONED STAFF. 

. Selden H. Loring, Marlboro'. 
. Alfred F. Fay, Boston. 
Henry W. Howe, Lowell. 

Company A. 

. Henry C. "Welles, Cambridge. 

William G. Howe, Cambridge. 

George F. Whitcomb, Boston. 

Company B. 

Cadwallader F. Blanchard, Lowell. 

James Farspns, Lowell. 

Edward A. Fiske, Lowell. 
Company C. 

Samuel B. Shepley, Lowell. 

William F. Levering, Lowell. 

Richard A. EUiott, Lowell. 
Company D. 

Marsh A. Ferris, Boston. 

Henry P. Fox, Boston. 

Nathan K. Reed, Lowell. 
Co?npany E. 



WiUiam H. Gardner, Jr., Boston. 
Company F. 

Timothy A. Crowley, Lowell. 

Bart Johnson, Jr., Lowell. 

Harrison G. Fuller, Charlestown. 
Company G. 

Daniel S. Yeaton, Lawrence. 

Francis H. Whittier, Charlestown. 

Frederic H. Norcross, Lowell. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



63 



Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant,. 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 



Company H. 

. Eugene A. Kelty, Boston. 

. James A. Claiborne, Philadelphia, Pa. 

. Sol. Robinson, Charlestown. 

Company I. 



Company K. 



Head-Quarters Department of New England, \ 

Boston, Dec. 20, 1801. \ 

The officers above named are approved by me, and recom- 
mended for commissions for their respective places. Companies 
I and K are recruited but not yet organized, the officers having 
charge of them not yet being approved. 

B. F. Butler, Major- General commmiding. 



Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 

Captain, 

First Lieutenant, 

Second Lieutenant, 



CAVALRY. 

First Company. 
. Samuel T. Reed, Attleboro', Mass. 
. Jonathan E. Cowen, Fairhaven, Mass. 
. Benjamin Pickman, Salem. 

Second Company. 
. James M. McGee, Carlisle, Pa. 
. Albert G. Bowles, Boston. 
. Pickering D. Allen, Salem. 

Third Company. 
. Henry A. Durivage, Waltbam. 
. Solon A. Perkins, Lowell. 
. Edward H. Sturtevant, Charlestown. 



Executive Department, Boston, > 
December 27, 1861. } 

To Brigadier General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant- General U. S. 
Army, Washing-ton, D. C. : 
General, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your commu- 
nication of the 23d inst. inclosing a list of names of persons 
entitled a " Roster of the Eastern Bay State Regiment, No. 2." 



64 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

for which persons by direction of the Secretary of War you 
request me to issue commissions to various military grades from 
lieutenant-colonel to lieutenant. 

I beg to suggest to you that if there is any body of troops in 
Massachusetts over which commissioned officers should be 
appointed by me, a more proper method of procedure on the 
part of the Secretary would be to bring that fact to my notice 
and to request me to issue commissions in accordance with the 
terms of the Act of Congress, making at the same time any 
recommendations according to his pleasure, instead of as in the 
present instance, transmitting a definite list of persons and re- 
questing me to commission them and none other, thereby 
appearing to assume that the duty of the Governor of this 
Commonwealth in respect to commissioning officers, is only 
ministerial, and not discretionary and judicial in respect to the 
character and qualifications of persons nominated. 

But passing this point entirely, and passing also the omission 
on the part of your communication to state that there is 
any body of regularly enlisted troops now in this State over 
whom officers should be appointed, I assume that you refer to 
the irregular troops which Major-General Butler has collected 
in the neighborhood of the city of Lowell. 

By previous correspondence which I have addressed to the 
Secretary of. War and to yourself, you are aware that these 
troops have been collected illegally and in contempt of orders 
of the war department as well as of my authority, and to the 
detriment and confusion of no less than ten of tlie volunteer 
regiments which have been organized by this State for the 
Federal service. 

Nothing whatever has occurred to change my determination 
not to commission officers over these irregular troops since the 
time when that determination was first made known to JNIajor- 
General Butler and to the department of war. Therefore I 
respectfully decline to comply with the request of the Secretary ; 
and in examining the list of names for which commissions are 
requested, I recognize several as of persons who have been 
nominated to me for commissions in regular Massachusetts 
volunteer regiments, and whom I have found it not expedient 
to appoint. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 65 

I regret deeply tliat the neglect of the department of war to 
take action upon facts and requests presented by me in writing, 
in behalf of this Commonwealth, at various times since the 
commencement of Major-General Butler's insubordinate action, 
should have I'endered this refusal inevitable, and should not 
have spared this State the confusion, division, and distress to 
which it has been subjected by these irregular enlistments. 

It affords me equal regret to be compelled to refuse to com- 
ply with any request whatever whicli the war department may 
make upon me in the present condition of National affairs, but 
I find consolation in the consciousness which 10 confirmed by 
rc]»eated assurances from the Secretary that there has never yet 
l)ecn any service which could properly be required of Massachu- 
setts which has not cheerfully been rendered. 

Inasmuch as the whole proceedings with reference to this 
irregular force collected by Major-General Butler have been 
conducted hitherto independently of the authority of Massachu- 
setts, I presume that it is to be expected that they will be 
terminated in the same manner. 

I have the honor to be, General, 

Respectfully, your obedient servant, 
John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts. 



Executive Department, Bostox, > 
December 28, 1801. | 



Honorable Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, Washington, 

D. C\: 
My Dear Sir, — I have written to the Adjutant-General such 
a letter as it became my duty to write, in relation to giving 
commissions to the persons by him requested to command 
certain troops amassed in this Commonwealth by Major-General 
Benjamin F. Butler. But I desire in all sincerity and simplicity, 
to assure you, that, in spite of all the unaccountable and inju- 
rious conduct of that gentleman, against which I have remon- 
strated in vain, I am still anxious that the public service, in 
the interest of which I have all along acted, should be promoted 
even by the organization of that force, if such is the wish of the 

government, and if.it can be done in some manner consistent 
9 



66 EECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

with propriety and the welfare of the corps itself. If the 
government wishes me to organize those men into companies 
and a regiment, and to appoint and commission officers, and 
shall so request, difficult and thankless as will be the task, I 
will nevertheless undertake it. I shall, of course, receive and 
pay the respect to any recommendations of Major-General 
Butler, due to his rank and position. But I must frankly say 
that there are men whose names, I perceive, are likely to be 
proposed to me, and on which I presume General Butler is 
likely to insist, whom I could not in conscience appoint, and 
whom to commission would offend both my sense of honor and 
of duty. 

There is nothing a just and honest man can do, which I do 
not feel a conscious willingness to attempt, nothing an honorable 
mind can bear, I do not feel willing to endure, to serve the 
country and her cause, and to obey the wishes of the adminis- 
tration. In all these military matters I regard myself a servant, 
though with some discretionary powers ; and in the sphere of 
my prop'er subordination, obedience is my pleasure as well as 
my duty ; but in the sphere of my proper and lawful discretion, 
although limited and inferior, I must still use my own discretion, 
cautiously and respectfully, I grant, but yet with firmness and 
fidelity. 

I am, with great respect, your friend and servant, 

• John A. Andrew. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, } 
Boston, Dec. 28, ISGl. | 

His Excellency John A. Andrew, Governor: 

On my return home, at the earliest possible moment, I reply 
in person to your note, in the character of a citizen. 

The official reply, sent by Major Strong, I approve and 
ordered, as covering the points upon which I believed a 
discourtesy had been done by your Military Secretary, with 
whom personally, for reasons appearing to me sufficient, 
I had refused to hold farther correspondence. 

I have read the letter in reply from your Military Secretary, 
and do not propose to reply to it at length. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 67 

Having enrolled yourself, by your own act, in the " United 
States Army of Massachusetts Volunteers," the evidence of 
which I send herewith, I thought it at least no discourtesy 
to treat you as my equal in the assimulated rank, which could 
be given you by courtesy only, especially in a correspondence 
upon military matters, and to ask of you a like courtesy. You 
will not, certainly, take the public and published honors of 
enrolment in the United States Army of Massachusetts Volun- 
teers without incurring the corresponding obligations of 
courtesy and responsibility ; and while I never supposed that, 
for any violations of regulations of the War Department, the 
Governor of Massachusetts could be deposed, yet I do believe 
that, for such violations, he will be likely to have his assump- 
tions of command of those volunteers, either at home or on 
the lines of the Potomac, signally rebuked. Of this, I believe, 
you have had some experience. 

I shall not notice, further, either the matter or the manner 
of that note, save to say that I disclaim, most emphatically, 
any intentional or even accidental discourtesy to the Governor 
of Massachusetts. 

I have by far too high a respect for the office to wish to aid 
in lowering its dignity. 

In the matter of the address in quotation, I but copied the 
address assumed by one of the numerous military secretaries 
who write me on behalf of the Governor, and it was be- 
cause of the formality of that address, " His Excellency 
Governor Andrew " is neither a " baptismal, inherited or 
constitutional " title, and after using it once in the letter 
alluded to, I carefully used the title of the Constitution, and 
marked it in quotation, to call attention to the difterence. 

I was the more careful to use the third person in the letter, 
because I was asking a favorable consideration to a request, 
and in that case I am not taught to sign the rank with which 
I have been honored. The Major-Generals of the' United 
States seldom oflQcially ask favors. You will also observe that 
therein I used the third person in speaking of myself. 

May I call your attention to the fact that the rules in regard 
to set-off, used in the profession which we both practiced, and 
which, perhaps, it would have been better for both and for the 



68 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

country if we had never left, do not apply to the co.urtepies of 
life. If you have, by accident, treated me discourteously, 
it is no set-off that I had accidentally, or even intentionally, 
treated you discourteously. As soon as it is thus made such 
set-off, then your discourtesy becomes iiitentional. But 
something too much of all this. As you have disclaimed all 
intentional discourtesy, that is sufficient. If my attention had 
been called to any supposed want of courtesy on my part, 
I should have at once disclaimed it, as I now do. Let, then, 
the citizen speak to the citizen, and ^y, without circumlocu- 
tion, paraphrase or euphuism, that in the matter of the officers 
of the Light Battery, I should not have recommended Captain 
Manning unless I had supposed that he was specially desired 
by yourself and the Adjutant-General. If he does not com- 
mend himself to you, I have no objection to his not being 
commissioned, and will offer another. With regard to the 
other officers, their good conduct, after several weeks' trial, 
commended them both to me and their men. If any base 
charge can be substantiated against either of them, I shall be 
happy to substitute others ; I believe, however, that neither 
of them have ever done any thing worse than seducing a 
mother, and making a father wifeless, and children motherless ; 
and that, you know, is no objection to a high military commis- 
sion in Massachusetts. I believe neither of them dead or 
physically disabled, as suggested in your note. If apology 
is needed for not notifying you of the fact that the Battery was 
going to sea, I must say that your supposed absence from the 
Commonwealth during all the time from the organization 
of the company till tlie exigencies of the service required them 
to go, is the best that I can offer. 

They had been ordered to report to me ; were under my 
control; had been mustered into the service of the United 
States ; and with their future movements, I respectfully submit, 
you had nothing to do, save to give commissions, if you so 
choose. If not, it is but justice to these men so to say. You 
have stated that this Battery sailed "• incompletely uniformed 
and equipped, and not fully recruited ; " that is fully denied, 
and you must have been misinformed. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 69 

Enclosed is the evidence of your voluntary enrolment into 
the United States Army of Massachusetts Volunteers. 
I am, most respectfully, 

Your fellow-citizen, 

Benj. F. Butler. 



[Accompanying tlie letter of which the foregoing is a copy, was for- 
warded a newspaper entitled, " New England Meridian, News, Litera- 
ture, Politics, Science, and General Information, Vol. I., No. 3. Boston, 
December 21, 1861 ;" on the fifth page of wliich newspaper was marked 
in ink a printed roster of the general and personal staff of the com- 
mander-in-chief of the Massacliusetts Militia, underneath the heading 
'' United States Army Koll of IMassachusetts Volunteers," and written 
in ink upon the margin of tlie newspaper opposite this roster is the 
following : — 

" I certify tliat this publication, while in proof, was submitted to 
Governor Andrew, and approved by him in its present form. 

J. B. Mansfield, Editor. 
Dec. 29, 1861. 

A true copy. 

Jos. M. Bell, A. A. D. (7." 



Upon this newspaper, as it is now placed upon the flies of the 
executive de2)artment, is written further the following endorsement : — 

" Memorandum. — This list of names was shown to me one day in the 
doric ludl of the State House, by a gentleman purporting to be engaged 
on a book. He stated that he desired me to sit for a likeness to be 
inserted in the book, and requested me to do him the fevor to correct 
any errors in the list. I looked it over with what care I could, and 
corrected some errors which I noticed ; but I did not comply with thp 
remaining request. I never saw the newspaper until General Butler 
sent it to me, and I have no memory of the heading wliich seems to 
have misled tliat gentleman. The list is a roster containing the names 
of the commander-in-chief of the mihlia of Massachusetts and the 
members of his general and personal staif, no one of wliom Itelonged to 
the United States Volunteers. J. A. A."] 



70 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

art: 
Jauuary 1, 1862 



Executive Department, Boston, > 



Adjutant-General William Schouler : 

In the matter of the Fourth Battery, which marched by 
order of Major-General Butler, not having had its officers 
appointed or commissioned, but for ■which company certain 
officers are recommended by Major Strong, representing 
General Butler, as being the choice of the company, I have 
to request that commissions be filled out accordingly. If the 
subject had been properly brought to my attention in due 
season, it would have enabled me to consult the best interests 
of the corps by selecting from whatever source the best candi- 
dates offering. As it is, the Battery being in the field, at a 
very remote point, and under these persons as acting officers, 
trusting that their superior commander will look after its 
interests, since I cannot, under the existing difficulties of 
investigation, pass any perfectly satisfactory judgment on all 
of them, I have decided to assume that commissions had best 
be granted, and to approve the recommendation of Major 
Strong, — this being, as I understand, your own opinion and 

advice. 

Yours respectfully, 

John A. Andrew. 



Executive Department, Boston, 7 
December 30, 1861. ^ 

To Major-General B. F. Butler, etc., &c., &c. : 

Sir, — It becomes my duty to ask you to what officer or 
appointment you refer in your letter of the 28th instant, in 
tsing the following words, viz. : — 

" Seducing a mother, and making a flitlier wifeless, and children 
motherless ; and that, you know, is no objection to a high military 
commission in Massachusetts." 

Moreover, may I ask whose mother is alluded to, and whose 
wife ; and does the implied allegation mean that the crime 
of murder was added to that of seduction; although the 
words " you know," assume the existence of greater knowledge 



CORRESPONDENCE. 71 

than I possess. And, indeed, since the day I had the honor to 
detail yourself as a Brigadier-General of militia, at the begin- 
ning of the present war, to this day, and both inclusive, I cannot 
accuse myself of such an appointment. If I have done so, 
I beg you to expose it. 

I have the honor to be your obedient, 

John A. Andrew. 



Head-Quarters, Department of New England, ] 
Boston, January 1, 1862. | 

To His Excellency, John A. Andrew, Governor : 

At the earliest possible moment of relief from graver 
duties, I answer your Excellency's communication of the 30th 
ult. I referred in my communication of the 28th ult., to the 
cage of Wyman, appointed by your Excellency, Colonel of the 
16th Massachusetts Regiment. 

Unless the testimony of brother oflGcers serving with 
"Wyman is to be disbelieved, facts notorious are to be denied 
which have never been denied before. 

Col. Wyman while an officer in the United States Army 
held long adulterous intercourse with a Mrs. Brannon, a wife 
of a brother officer. 

This woman afterwards left her home under such circum- 
stances as to induce the belief that she was either murdered 
by herself or another. 

This Wyman obtained leave of absence from the Army, and 
joined his paramour in Europe. While there, he resigned his 
commission because of a letter from the Adjutant-General of 
the Army that he would be court martialed if he did not, and 
remained abroad until after the breaking out of the war, when 
he left her embraces and returned to the arms of the Com- 
monwealth under your Excellency's appointment. 

This woman was the mother of children, and if I should 
amend the language of my communication of the 28th ult., I 
should add, " making a father worse than wifeless, and children 
worse than motherless." 

I used the phrase " you know," because I have been informed, 
and I have reason tol)elieve and do believe that the substance 



72 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

of these facts was known to your Excellency at the time you 
made the appointment. 

Will your Excellency deny that you were then put upon 
inquiry as to them ? 

I cannot expose this matter, because it has long since been 
made a matter of exposition in the public prints. 

I have no farther knowledge of Colonel Wyman save that 
which may be learned by inquiry of any officer of the Army 
who served with him. 

I have no disposition to injure or interfere with him, and 
have made this communication only in reply to your Excel- 
lency's statement. 

I remain, very respectfully, 

Your Excellency's obedient servant, 

Benj. F. Butler. 



Executive Department, Bostox, ? 
January 6, 1862. ^ 

Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, &c., &:g., &g. : 

Sir, — At the first hour at my disposal for the purpose I 
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of January 1st in 
which you state that Colonel Powell T. Wyman, commanding 
the 16th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, now 
stationed at Fortress Monroe, is the person to whom you had 
reference when addressing me under date of December 28th 
you afeserted that I '' know " that '' seducing a mother, and 
making a father wifeless and children motherless," " is no 
objection to a high military commission in Massachusetts." 

In answer to your somewhat peremptory interrogatory 
addressed to me in that letter of January 1st, I would state 
for your information that the first knowledge I ever had of 
Mr. Wyman was through a letter addressed by him to the 
Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, dated ''London, England, 
May 1, 1861," stating that he was a citizen of Boston, and a 
graduate of the West Point Military Academy, and had served 
for ten years as an officer of artillery of the United States 
Army; and tendering his services to ^e Executive of this 



CORRESPONDENCE. 73 

Commonwealth, in any military capacity. I am not aware that 
any acknowledgment was ever made of this communication. 

During the month of June I received another note from Mr. 
Wyman. dated at the Parker House, Boston, he having in the 
meanwhile returned to America. This letter was assigned to 
a member of my staff to whom Mr. Wyman was referred for 
consultation. It was at that time that I first heard that there 
was said to be a cloud of some sort upon Mr. Wyman's 
character ; and having little leisure myself to enter into quasi- 
judicial investigations as to persorlal character, I passed over 
his name in the appointments which I then was making. The 
nature of the reports against him were not then stated to me, 
and although I was soon after advised of them, yet there are 
things asserted in your letter of January 1st as "notorious 
facts " of which it is only through yourself that I have knowl- 
edge. 

Yery shortly afterwards Adam W. Thaxter, Esq., of this 
city, — doubtless known to you as one of the most distinguished 
merchants of Boston, — brought the name of Mr. Wyman very 
urgently to my attention, both personally and in a letter dated 
June 20th, in which he requested me to call on himself if Mr. 
Wyman should ''need an endorser," and stated that in his 
opinion Mr. Wyman, if appointed a Colonel, would " do credit 
to his native State." 

And on July 1st, Mr. Thaxter further presented to me a 
communication in writing, signed by Captain Thomas J. C. 
Amory, of the 7th Infantry United States Army, and Captain 
Louis H. Marshall, of the 10th Infantry, United States Army, 
both of whom had served in the army with Mr. Wyman, and 
who were, if I remember, the only United States regular army 
officers then on duty at this city ; and signed also by Charles 
G. Greene, Esq., Franklin Haven, Esq., William Dehon, Esq., 
William Parkman, Esq., Hon. George Lunt, Hon. Benjamin F. 
Hallett, Henry L. Hallett, Esq., P. Holmes, Esq., Edward F. 
Bradlee, Esq., Joseph L. Henshaw, Esq., Peter Butler, Esq., 
Thomas C. Amory, Esq., and J. P. Bradlee, Esq., — all of these, 
gentlemen of this city, who are doubtless known to you by 
reputation, and with some of whom I cannot doubt that you 
are personally acquainted, — in which communication these 

10 



74 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

gentlemen requested the appointment of Mr. "Wyman as a 
Colonel, and certified that they " believed in him " as " a 
gentleman, a man of worth, an accomplished officer, and brave 
soldier, and that a regiment under his command would yield 
to none in the service for discipline, high tone, and efficiency," 
and also that they felt convinced that " under all circum- 
stances " he "would do honor to his State and to his Country." 
These gentlemen further stated that they made this request in 
full knowledge of the existence of the rumors and influences 
against Mr. Wyman's reputation ; and, nevertheless, with such 
knowledge, they earnestly "urged" him "as one to wliom the 
honor of Massachusetts may confidently be trusted." 

About the same time Mr. Wyman addressed to me a com- 
munication in writing, denying the truth of the prejudicial 
rumors in circulation against him, and although admitting that 
it was true that he had formed a matrimonial connection with 
a lady who had eloped from her husband by reason of that 
husband's brutal treatment of her, yet stating also that he had 
not seen the lady for the year preceding, nor for the year after 
her elopement. This communication, I find, upon referring to 
it, amounts also to a denial of the truth of much that is stated 
by you in your letter of January 1st, as "notorious facts" 
derogatory to Mr. Wyman's character. 

Upon the basis of this statement made by Mr. Wyman, and 
controlled by no responsible counter-statement or testimony 
whatsoever, and upon the formal assurance I received from 
the numerous gentlemen whom I have mentioned, that he was 
a good soldier, and a good citizen, I did not feel myself 
justified in rejecting the services of a highly meritorious and 
thoroughly educated officer, upon unsubstantial rumors of an 
alleged moral error which did not affect his military compe- 
tency, — and more especially at a time when the services of 
educated officers were so greatly needed for the command of 
our troops. 

I therefore appointed Mr. Wyman to be Colonel of the 16th 
Regiment, an appointment which under the circumstances 
stated, commended itself to my judgment, and which I have no 
reason whatsoever now to regret, and under like circumstances, 
should not hesitate to repeat. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 75 

As it was upon the faith of the assurances made to me by 
Mr. Thaxter and the other gentlemen in their communication 
of July 1st, that the appointment of Colonel Wyman was 
made, I therefore conceive that your quarrel with that appoint- 
ment should be with those gentlemen rather than with myself, 
and therefore I propose to inclose copies of your correspon- 
dence with me in this connection, to Mr. Thaxter as represent- 
ing them, and I must request you to addrtss to them any 
future correspondence upon this subject, inasmuch as they are 
better acquainted than myself with Colonel Wyman and his 
character, life, and connections, which I know chiefly through 
them. I desire to add that in all the intercourse which I have 
had with Colonel Wyman during the organization of his regi- 
ment, I never observed on his part the manifestation of any 
other qualities than those of an accomplished officer, and I 
shall be very reluctant to give credit to your reproaches 
against his character, especially in view of the standing of 
those gentlemen by whom his character as a gentleman was 
certified to me. 

In conclusion, I would say that I do not feel that any reason 
exists, requiring me to enter into such an explanation as the 
above ; but when an officer of the rank of Major-General in the 
Army of United States Volunteers, thinks it necessary to 
diversify his occupations by needless flings at a fellow officer 
in the same army, — seeking to strike myself through him, — a 
sense of honor and duty both to the Commonwealth and to 
the gentleman thus struck at, requires me to spare no proper 
pains to see that justice is fully done. 
Your obedient servant, 

John A. Andrew. 



Adjutant-General's Office, Washington, } 

January 3, 1802. ) 

His Excellency, the Governor of Massachusetts, Boston, 

Massachusetts. 

Governor, — The Secretary of War requests that you will 
forward to this office, at your earliest convenience, a return of 
the two and three years regiments, and independent compa- 



76 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

nies furnished up to this date, under the authority of your 
State, — setting forth the strength of each regiment or inde- 
pendent company, and the respective arms to which they 
belonged when transferred to the General Government. He 
further desires that you will forward a similar return (or as 
complete a one us it may be in your power to render,) of all 
two or three years volunteer troops raised within the limits of 
your State upon* what has been termed "independent accept- 
ances." He also requests that you will report the number of 
regiments or independent companies now organizing in your 
State, the present strength thereof, and the time at which they 
will probably be completed and ready to take the field. 
I am, Governor, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

L. Thomas, Adjutant- General. 



Executive Department, Bostox, ) 
January 9, 1802. \ 

To Brigadier-General Lorenzo Thomas, Adjutant- General, 
U. S. Army, Washington, D. C. : 
General, — His Excellency Governor Andrew, has to ac- 
knowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3d instant, in 
which you request to be informed : — 

1. The number of regiments of two years volunteers ; also, 
of three years volunteers ; and also the number of indepen- 
dent companies of volunteers furnished by Massachusetts, to 
the date of your communication. 

2. The strength of each regiment or company, and 3. The 
arm*of the service to which each belonged when transferred 
to the General Government. 

4. Similar details as to all two or three years volunteer 
troops raised within the limits of Massachusetts upon what 
has been termed " independent acceptances." 

5. The number of regiments or independent companies 
now organizing in Massachusetts, the present strength thereof, 
and the time at which they will probably be completed and 
ready to take the field. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 77 

The answers to these inquiries will be found in the state- 
ments hereto annexed. 

I have the honor to be, respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

A. G. Browne, Jr., 
Lieut.-Colotiel and Military Secretary. 

Statement annexed to Reply of January Wi^ to the Letter of 
Adjutant- General Thomas of January 3, 1862. 

Question 1. — The number of regiments of two years volunteers? 

Answer. — None. 

The number of regiment of three years vohmteers ? 

A. — Twenty-five. (24 of infantry, 1 of cavalry.) 

The number of independent companies of volunteers ? 

A. — Five, (of infantry,) battalion at Fort Warren. Six, (of infan- 
try,) serving in New York regiments, four of them in what is called 
the Mozart Regiment, and two in what is called the Excelsior Brigade. 
One (of infantry) forming part of the gai'rison at Fortress Monroe. 
Five (of light artillery,) battery companies. Two, (of sharpshooters). 
Making a total of twenty-four regiments and twelve companies, of infan- 
try, one regiment of cavalry, two companies of sharpshootex's and five 
batteries of light artillery. 

Questions 2 and 3. — The strength of each I'egiment or company when 
transferred to the General Government, and the arm of the service to 
which each then belonged. 

Answer. — 

Infantry.* 

^ strength when transferred 

No. of Regiment. to Gen'l Oov'm't. 

First, 1,120 

Second, 1,072 

Seve^ith, 1,043 

Ninth, 1,067 

Tenth, 1,015 

Eleventh, 1,055 

Twelfth, 1,058 

Thirteenth, ..." 1,038 

Fourteenth, 1,045 

Fifteenth, 1,137 

* It will be noticed that in numbering the infantry regiments the numbers 
Three, Four, Five, Si.x, and Eight, have been omitted, those having been the 
numbers of the militia regiments furnished by this State to the General 
Government in April for three months service. 



78 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

Sixteenth, 1,064 

Seventeenth, 1,003 

Eighteenth, 996 

Nineteenth, 926 

Twentieth, 757 

Twenty-First, 958 

Twenty-Second, * . . 1,033 

Twenty-Third, 1,004 

Twenty-Fourth, 975 

Twenty-Fifth, 1,025 

Twenty-Sixth, 1,040 

Twenty-Seventh, ........ 958 

Twenty-Eighth,* 945 

Twenty-Ninth, 808 

Battalion at Fort Warren, . . . ' . . . 476 

Company at Fort Munroe, ...... 98 

Six companies in New York regiments, . . . 500 

Total of Infantry, 25,246 

Cavalry. 
First Eegiment, 1,101 

Total of Cavalry, 1,101 

Artillery. 
Liglit Batteries — 

First, 150 

Second, 157 

Third, 155 

Fourth.f • 157 

Fifth, 156 

Total of Artillery, 775 

* In the table of Infantry, the f5resent strength of the Twenty-Eighth Regi- 
ment is given, and that regiment is enumerated as if it had already left the 
State, it being under orders to leave on Saturday next, and proceed to Fort 
Columbus, New York, and there report to Colonel Loomis, United States 
Army, commanding. 

f In the table of Artillery, the strength of the Fourth Battery Is computed 
from observation, and from unofficial papers ; that Battery having been 
removed from this State by Major-General Butler, without any notice being 
given to the Governor, without any officers having been commissioned, and 
without any jiroper rolls of any description having been deposited in the 
office of the Adjutant-General of the Commonwealth, of which facts the 
Adjutant-General of the United States Army was advised by the Governor 
under date of November 27th. 

Besides the troops thiis above enumerated, it Is estimated that upwards of 
two thousand men have been enlisted from Massachusetts chiefly Into New 
York Regiments, of whom about 300 are in what is called the Union Coast 
Guard Re2fiment now at Fortress JMonroe. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 79 

Sharpshooters. 
Companies — 

First, 102 

Second, 104 

Total of Sharpshooters, 206 

Summary. 

strength. 

Infantry, 21 Regiments and 12 Companies, . . . 25,246 

Cavalry, 1 Regiment, 1,101 

Artillery, 5 Battery Companies, 775 

Sharpshooters, 2 Companies, 206 



Grand total, 27,328 

Question 4. — Similar details as to " all two or three' years volunteer 
troops raised within the limits of Massachusetts upon what has been 
termed ' independent acceptances. ' " 

Ansiver. — Prior to September IG, 18G1, which Avas the date of 
General Order, No. 78, of the War Department of the United States, 
for the past year, all attempts to I'aise troops in this State by individuals 
on what you style " independent acceptances " proved abortive, and 
there are no corps now in the field which were raised in this State under 
any other superintendence than that of the State government. 

But since the date of that Order, Major-General Butler United States 
Volunteers, in violation of its provisions, has collected an irregular force, 
in camps at Pittsfield and Lowell, which according to the best informa- 
tion in the Governor's possession, is believed to amount to about 1,800 
men at this time. Part of these men have been confined during the 
last week on board the steamer Constitution lying in Boston Harbor, 
under JMajor-General Butler's orders. No data are in the possession of 
the State Government for furnishing ofiicially, or any more accurately, 
the number or position of the irregular force thus illegally collected; as 
the whole business of collecting it, has been conducted independently of, 
and in contempt of the authority of this Commonwealth, and of the 
Order of the War Department before mentioned (No. 78) and no report 
has ever been made by Major-General Butler to the Governor of this 
State as required and commanded by that Order. 

Full representations of these facts have been made to the War 
Depai'tment, and may be found by referring to letters addressed to the 
Secretary of War under dates of October 6th, and December 28th, and 
to yourself under dates of November 27th, and December 27th. 

Question o. — " The number of regiments or independent companies 
now organizing in Massachusetts,, the present strength thereof, and the 



80 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

time at whicli they will probably be completed, and ready to take the 
field." 

Ansiver. — It is impossible to state with any approach to accuracy, the 
condition, in respect to the points of the above inquiry, of the irregular 
bodies of troops illegally assembled by Major-General Butler, any 
further than is set forth in the answer to interrogatory No. 4. 

The Twenty-Eighth Infantry Regiment is the only one of the 
regiments raised under the superintendence of the authorities 
of Massachusetts which still remains in this Commonwealth, 
and that regiment, as appears by the answer to questions 
number 2 and 3, is now 945 strong, and is under orders to 
leave the Commonwealth for Fort Columbus, New York, on 
Saturday, the eleventh inst. 

By General Order, No. 105 of the War Department of the 
United States, of the series of the past year, issued on De- 
cember 3, 1861, it was provided that "no more regiments, 
batteries or independent companies will be raised by the Gov- 
ernors of the States except upon the special requisition of the 
War Department." No such requisition has since that date 
been received by the Governor of this Commonwealth. 

The Twenty-Eighth Infantry Regiment, before mentioned, is 
the only corps of volunteers which at that date was in process 
of organization by the authorities of Massachusetts, which has 
not already left the State. At the time of the receipt of that 
Order of December third, the Governor of Massachusetts had 
received from the War Department assurances that four addi- 
tional regiments to those which appear in the schedules of the 
answers to questions 2 and 3 would be accepted from the 
authorities of this Com'monwealth ; but no definite action had 
been taken to initiate their organization, inasmuch as before 
'proceeding to raise any further troops, the Governor awaited 
the response of the War Department to his request to be 
relieved from the irregular and illegal competition instituted 
by Major-General Butler. The courtesy of such a response is 
still awaited by the Executive of this Commonwealth ; and the 
delay is the more to be regretted inasmuch as preparations 
had then been completed by the authorities of Massachusetts, 
for the organization in Worcester, Franklin, Hampshire, 



CORRESPONDENCE. 81 

Hampden and Berkshire Counties, of a rei^iment of a'dmirable 
material, (to be commanded by D. Waldo Lincoln, Esq., the son 
of ex-Governor Levi Lincoln of Worcester,) as one of the four 
remaining; to be organized. It will be inexpedient to attempt 
the organization of any further regiments in this State under 
the authority of the Commonwealth, so long as the Depart- 
ment of War permits Major-General Butler to persist in his 
present course of action, which prevented Massachusetts from 
participation in the expedition to Port Royal in the manner 
she had expected, and others had expected of her, which has 
retarded and confused the enlistments of no less than ten of 
the regiments of the State, and which has demoralized the 
entire recruiting service in this portion of the country. 



[Telegram.] 

Washington, D. C, January 11, 1862. 

Governor John A. Andrew, Boston : 

I will be greatly obliged if you will arrange somehow with 
General Butler to officer his two unofficered regiments. 

A. Lincoln. 



Executive Department, Boston, } 
January 11, 1862. \ 
To the President of t/ie United States : 

Sir, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your 
telegram of to-day, stating your desire that some arrange- 
ment shall be made by which I may organize with officers the 
troops which have been illegally collected in this State, by 
Major-General Butler ; and, in reply, I beg to repeat what I 
wrote to the Secretary of War, on December 28th, that if the 
Federal Government wishes me to organize these men into 
companies and regiments, and to appoint and commission offi- 
cers, and shall so request and issue orders accordingly, difficult 
and thankless as will be the task, I will, nevertheless, under- 
take it, and I should pay the respect to any recommendations 
of Major-General Butler due to his rank and position. But I 
11 



82 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

must frankly say that there are names which I perceive he 
would be likely to propose to me, of persons whom I could not 
in conscience appoint, and whom to commission would ojOfend 
both my sense of honor and of duty. 

In the sphere of my proper snbordination, obedience is my 
pleasure as well as my duty, but in the sphere of my proper 
and lawful discretion, although limited and inferior, I must use 
such discretion cautiously and respectfully, but with firmness 
and fidelity ; and the choice of officers is a duty not simply 
ministerial, but discretionary and judicial as to their character 
and qualifications. 

Major-General Butler's proceedings in Massachusetts, in 
respect to recruitment, have been altogether lawless, in viola- 
tion, especially, of General Order No. 78 of the War Depart- 
ment, of the series of 1861, and have been conducted with both 
official and personal contempt towards the Government of this 
Commonwealth. 

This has been permitted by the General Government, not- 
withstanding representations of the facts to the Adjutant-Gen- 
eral of the Army, and to the Secretary of War, for which I beg 
to refer you to the files of- the War Department, mentioning 
especially my letters to the Secretary, of October 6tli and De- 
cember 28th, and to the Adjutant-General of November 27th 
and December 27th. 

In an ordinary time, such insult by an officer of the Federal 
Government, and such neglect by that Government to check its 
continuance or prevent its repetition, would have demanded 
public remonstrance. In a time like this, it is the duty of 
every citizen to bear whatever can be borne consistently with 
honor, and I have been silent towards the public, trusting that 
the Federal Government would at last discontinue the tole- 
ration of this indignity, practiced towards a Commonwealth 
which had done nothing to deserve it ; and in that trust I 
remain silent still. 

If you desire more particular details of the action of Major- 
General J3utler relative to the Government of Massachusetts, 
and to his recruitment in this State, I respectfully refer you to 
the Senators of Massachusetts in Congress, and to copies of 
correspondence and documents relating to the subject, which 
are in their possession. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 83 

In my opinion, wliicli I submit with entire respect, there is 
no necessity for the organization at all of the men whom 
General Butler lias thus collected, and who are, as you state, 
unofficcred. They cannot be required for immediate service 
under his command, for the 28th Regiment of our Massachusetts 
line, which (together with our 2Gth) I raised for him and 
placed at his disposal, has, after being fully recruited and 
equipped, been ordered to leave the State for entirely another 
service. They cannot render any more effectual benefit to the 
country than by being used to recruit to the maximum stand- 
ard the JNIassachusetts regiments already in the field, and 
particularly the 15tli and 20th, wliich were more than deci- 
mated at Ball's Bluff, and tlie recruitment forwhicli has been 
checked and embarrassed by the insubordinate competition of 
General Butler. This also would admit their needy families 
to the benefits of the State law for the relief of the needy 
families of soldiers in regular Massacliusetts regiments. 

But if, on the contrary, the Federal Government shall deem 
it more beneficent to the public service, that these men should 
be organized into companies and regiments and by the appoint- 
ment of officers, and shall request me to undertake that duty 
in tlie manner in wliich I have performed it in the instances of 
the twenty-five regiments which this State has hitherto con- 
tributed to the army, exercising my own discretion in all 
matters in the same manner as with those twenty-five regiments, 
I will assume the task and perform it according to my best 
judgment and ability, — and to that end, Major-General 
Butler should l)c directed to report in accordance with the 
General Order. No. 78, and otherwise to comply with the pro- 
visions of tliat Order, whicli as yet he lias entii'ely neglected 
and disobey-ed. 

In event of the Federal Government requesting me to under- 
take the organization of these men, I should be pleased to hear 
more definitely from the Secretary of War, with reference to 
the employment in Massachusetts regiments of some of the 
foreign officers now tendering their services to the United 
States, on which subject he has already addressed me. If 
there are such officers, of marked merit, for whom other 
commands have not been secured, it would be possible to issue 
commissions to some of them, if adequate reasons should 



84 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

appear for their employment in accordance with the request of 
the Secretary. 

I have the honor to be, with the highest respect, 
Your obedient servant, 

John A. Andrew. 



[Telegram.] 

Washington, D. C, January 15, 1862. 
To the Governor of Massachusetts, Boston : 

What number of troops can you have ready, fully equipped, 
for marching within one week from this date ? 

Thomas A. Scott, Ass't. Sec'// of War. 



[Telegram.] 

Executive Dei-artment, Boston, 7 
January 17, 1862. ^ 

Col. Thomas A. Scott, Ass't. Sec''y of War, Washington, D. C. : 
Your telegram is just received. Please read communication 
to Adjutant-General Tiiomas of January 9th. The proceedings 
of General Butler prevented us from starting new regiments 
authorized ; and the new army orders have taken every thing 
out of my hands. I will do every thing possible for the govern- 
ment if called on, and the orders adhered to. 

John A. Andrew. 



[On December 21st, 1861, copies of all the foregoing letters and 
documents to that date were forwarded to the Senators of Massachusetts 
in the- Congress of the United States, as follows :] 

Executive Department, Boston, ) 
December 21, 1861. | 

To Honorable Charles Sumner, and 
Honorable Henry Wilson : 
Senators, — I appeal to you as the official representatives of 
this Commonwealth in the Congress of the United States, and 
its proper agents at the seat of government, to examine, and in 



CORRESPONDENCE. ^ 85 

your official capacity to act upon the official copies of corres- 
pondence which I liave the honor herewith to inclose, by pre- 
senting the subject formally to the President of the United 
States. 

For an immediate comprehension of its purport I would sug- 
gest to you before examining the file consecutively, to read — 

1. My letter to Adjutant-General Thomas, under date of 
November 27th. 

2. The letter addressed by me to the Secretary of War, 
under date of October 6th. 

3. Tlie letters addressed to Major-General Butler on October 
5th and October 26th. 

The other documents explain, illustrate, and fortify the facts 
stated and positions assumed in these letters. 

As I do not receive any reply from the officers of the Federal 
Government whom I have thus addressed, nor any redress, or 
cessation of the evils of which complaint is tlierein made, I am 
compelled thus to resort to your official intervention. 

It is not my judgment that this Commonwealth is properly 
subject either to open injustice or to contemptuous silence. I 
do not think that the people of Massachusetts can endure that 
I should fail to fully assert their rights and vindicate their 
interests although obliged to do so in connection with the 
upholding of my own official functions. 

However humble and unimi»ortant may be the person, indi- 
vidually, who happens at this time to hold the place of the 
Chief Executive Magistrate of Massachusetts, is not to be 
remembered by you or by himself. But when the venerable 
Commonwealth which he serves, is thus treated with contumely, 
although in his own person, it is not permitted even to him to 
remain silent. 

Perhaps the blood shed by the children of this Common- 
wealth at Baltimore, at Ball's Bluff, and wherever else they 
have been called in arms daring the present year, may have 
been only their dutiful share in the sufferings of the war ; but 
it is neither in my heart nor in my temper to see the public 
service injured, our people distracted, and our military efficiency 
demoralized by proceedings at once unjust and discourteous to 
the truest friend the Federal Government and its administra- 
tion have found among all the States in this hour of their trial, 



86 RECRUITING OF TROOPS. 

and the best blood of whose sons has been freely poured out 
upon every field. 

Since I can obtain no word of reply to myself in answer to 
the representations and requests made in these letters, I trust 
that you may be more fortunate. 

I am compelled to declare, with great reluctance and regret, 
that the whole course of proceeding under Major-General 
Butler in this Commonwealth seems to have been designed and 
adapted simply to afford means to persons of bad character to 
make money unscrupulously, and to encourage men whose 
unfitness had excluded them from any appointment by me to 
the volnnteer military service, to hope for such appointment 
over Massachusetts troops, from other authority than tliat of 
the Executive of Massachusetts. 

I am, very respectfully, 

Your most obedient and humble servant, 

John A. Andrew, Governor of Massachusetts. 

Besides an acknowledgment of the receipt of the letter of 
December 21st and its inclosures, the reply following (whicli 
was received on January 14, 1862,) was returned : — 

Washington, D. C, Jan. 10, 1862. 
I am authorized by the War Department to say that if you 
will send on your programine, with reference to General 
Butler, it shall l)e carried out and the Department given up. 
Please let me know your desires. 

Charles Sumner. 
To Governor Andrew. 



[Telegram.] 

Executive Department, Boston,) 
January 14, 1862. ; 

Hon. Charles Sumner, U. S. Senator, Washington, D. C. : 

The President has my programme written, replying to his 
telegram of last Saturday. My letters should be directly and 
not indirectly answered by the President or Department. 

John A. Andrew. 



CORRESPONDENCE 



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